Concrete Angel
by Kunaigirl
Summary: Éponine seems like an average highschool girl, yet underneath her tough exterior there lies a warm personality. It is that personality which gets her into joining Les Amis -a group of students at school who stand up for the rights of every student- against her will. Will she be able to cope with her life and Les Amis alike? Or will her world at home, and her school world collide?
1. Chapitre Un

Dislcaimer: I do not own Les Misérables, I do own the same mentality as Les Amis though. ^^"

Concrete Angel.

Chapitre Un.

Wednesday. The cold autumn wind flew about her as she bravely pedalled on. She only had two more papers left to deliver and then she'd be done. Bravely the girl rode to the last two houses on her block. Once she was finished she allowed herself a small smile as she tried to enjoy the ride home. It was still early in the morning, yet the seventeen year old girl had been up and about for over an hour already. She expertly manoeuvred her bike so that she stalled it cleverly out of sight, for she didn't own a decent lock, and she needed to bike to get to her various part-time jobs.

Pushing open the door she looked at her watch. 6.45 it read and she heaved a deep sigh, putting down her beloved brown cap on a small cupboard in the hall.

"Bonjour Éponine." she heard her younger sister say from the kitchen. It had become a routine. She and her younger brother would go out and deliver news papers, and as they came home Azelma, her younger -and only- sister would be up preparing them lunch for school.

"Gavroche here yet?" Éponine asked as she dropped herself onto the nearest stool in front of the table.

"No, not yet. He must be very busy." Azelma said.

"Perhaps." the older sister replied as she took a sip from the glass of water that her sister had placed in front of her. Gavroche was the oldest of the boys, and though he wasn't exactly old enough to take on part-time jobs, he hadn't let that keep him from getting one at last. Unlike Éponine, he had gotten a rather crowded block with many small houses and a fair amount of older people and young families. Éponine sighed. She was perfectly glad with her block. It was bigger than most, but that was only because it were all big houses where the rich people lived. If she'd compare the amount of newspapers she had to deliver to Gavroche, he'd easily win. She grunted. Gavroche was very charismatic, and liked to talk to everyone. So it wasn't so uncommon to have him home later than her, even though his block was closer to home.

'Well...' she reasoned, that's how he got himself a fair amount of cakes and sweets every time he cam back. Something to keep the littlest among them happy.

"Éponine, you should eat." Azelma tried to urge her sister on.

"I'm not hungry." the older sister quickly responded, pushing the small plate away from her and standing up. She had to brush out her hair a little before leaving for school.

Looking in the mirror she frowned. Her own dark chocolate eyes watched her, and she found her dark brown hair was already a mess. She quickly drew out her brush and frantically tried to style it somewhat. A pity her last hair tie had given up on her the day before. Well, she'd have to live with it for the time being. Then she regarded her outfit for the day. A long sleeved white shirt with over it a khaki green t-shirt. She loved combining these two kinds of shirts, because nor her friends, nor her teachers would see how 'used' it was. The holes and torn spots were camouflaged easily by putting the two of them aside. And besides -her grin widened at this thought- it looked rather cool. Underneath she wore jeans with holes in it, but luckily for her, that was what made it look cool as well. The girls in her class found it enormously cool how she dared to go out with trousers that 'looked' stitched up, and where one of her knees nearly peaked through. The truth was...she had no other choice. Underneath she wore her ancient boots. Through the years they'd gotten a rugged look, and the occasional change of shoelaces, and a fair amount of shoe polish were ideal to make her boots look new every few months. She sighed as she thought about it all. Her fathers gambling and 'high-class living' had caused all this. And what did he do to make it all better? More gambling and lying, trying to earn some money back, not even caring about his debts. That was something his kids had to worry about.

Without her realising her hand had clenched into a tight fist and she gritted her teeth. As she once more looked at herself in the mirror, she found her own reflection glaring back at her. And she knew well enough why. She hated her father for being so stupid, and even more for remaining so stupid. On top of that when he got drunk -which was more than occasionally-, or when he just did no longer see an exit out of their trouble, or got stuck lying, he'd beat the heck out of them. Unconsciously her hand went to her ribs on the right side, where he'd kicked her the week before. Her own reflection glared at her. Eyes full of hatred. Because she did not only hate her father. She hated her mother too. She hated her for letting it get this far. For never telling her dad to stop gambling and dealing in dubious things. On top of that she allowed him to beat her children! If Éponine ever became a mother, she'd do anything in her power to keep her husband from ever touching her children in such a way.

"Éponine!" she heard Azelma yell from downstairs, and that was her cue. She quickly ran out of the bathroom, grabbed her sister by the arm, and pulled her out of the house, quickly followed by the rest of the gang of children that had just woken up.

"Have you lost your mind?!" Éponine snapped, turning towards her sister. "Have you forgotten how 'he' gets when you scream in the morning?!"

Azelma understood. She'd slipped up. Something she'd never do. "I'm sorry 'Ponine." she said, feeling extremely guilty, especially as she saw her older sister's hand go unconsciously to her ribs. Fifteen-year-old Azelma understood. It had been kept from her for a long time, but now she knew on how many occasions her big sister had saved her from getting a beating herself.

"Just stay here." Éponine said, once more taking the few steps towards the front door. In her hurry to get her sister out, she'd forgotten her bag.

Silently she sneaked in, and grabbed the coats of the children, their bags, and the lunch Azelma had prepared for them. Upstairs she could hear a grumbling.

"Get away!" she whispered to Azelma and the children, and they quickly ran to hide behind the corner of their streets, bikes by their side.

Luckily Azelma had taken Éponine's white bike as well. She held it out for her as Éponine gave everyone their stuff.

"Thanks 'Zelma." she said, putting her brown jacket over her sober outfit before putting on her cap. After pushing her lunch into her worn-out khaki green messenger bag which she'd gotten her hands on years ago, she got onto her bike.

"Gavroche?" she asked once more.

Azelma smiled weakly. "He came by long enough to grab his lunch and left."

Éponine sighed. "He should eat something before going to school."

Azelma regarded her sister, but decided not to say anything, for she realised well enough. Both Éponine and Gavroche were pushing themselves for their sakes. Both of them regularly missed meals, and often pretended they were not hungry when it was clear there wasn't going to be enough for all of them. It wasn't like her mother wasn't trying to help them, she truly did. But she was often occupied herself. Whether it was by trying to keep an eye onto her husband, or trying to earn some money by washing laundry for the neighbours.

"Alright then." Éponine announced to her younger siblings. "Time for us to get going."

The younger children -barely 6 and 8 years old- nodded enthusiastically before dashing off on their bikes, Éponine and Azelma following close behind. This is how it always went. Éponine and Gavroche would get up extremely early for their first part-time job for that day. She'd get up a bit after they left, getting everything ready to go to school by preparing breakfast and their lunch. She'd also wake the two youngest children and feed them as good as she could. She'd long given up on preserving enough for her parents. They were old enough to get something for themselves. By the time she'd gotten the two younger children ready for school Éponine and Gavroche would show up, only to grab a quick bite, and to get ready for school. Normally Gavroche accompanied Éponine and herself to get the smallest of them to school, but he seemed somehow preoccupied since a few weeks. Azelma fought back the urge to frown. Éponine would notice, and then the older sister would try to get her to smile, taking even more responsibility and trying to get some burden off of her younger sister. She didn't want that. She only wanted things to be the way they were before they got bankrupt, and chased by people to whom her father was indebted to.

Then, after they'd gotten the two to school, they'd make their way to their own high school. From that moment out Azelma would not see her sister for long. They'd part ways inside the building, each meeting up with their own classmates and friends. After school it would be only Azelma, getting the children from school, and she wouldn't see her sister for a long time.

"Bonjour." Éponine greeted her friends as she made her way over to the sole figure, reading on a bench.

"Bonjour." the girl replied before closing her book and looking at Éponine. Anne was her name. She was a beautiful young girl from a normal family. Kind and level-headed she was, and the only one who knew about Éponine's multiple part-time jobs. She'd never asked why she worked so much, realising from the look on Éponine's face that she didn't want to talk about it at all.

In the distance she saw a figure walk, and Éponine dropped her chin onto her open hands. She didn't care if her elbows painfully dug into her legs as she did so. All disappeared when she saw 'him'. Marius Pontmercy. One of the most popular guys in school. She loved him. She'd had a crush on him for years, but she knew she was way out of his league, even if he did talk to her rather often.

"Why don't you just tell him?" Anne asked as she followed her friend's gaze towards the dark haired boy, meeting up with his buds.

"Are you crazy?" Éponine retorted, sitting up and looking Anne straight into her eyes. "We're like night and day, there's no way he feels the same way. He made it clear more than a few times that he sees me as no more than a friend."

"But friendship can turn into something deeper, right?" Anne tried to cheer up her friend.

Éponine shook her head violently. "No. No way in hell." she said, looking away and trying to find another subject to talk about. It was there rather quickly.

"How's it going with that new group on school? Les Amis de...what was it again?"

"Les amis de l'ABC." Anne corrected her, pushing her glasses up. "They're getting a rather big amount of support from the students, but they've hit a wall with the teachers."

Éponine pulled up an eyebrow. "They hit a wall?"

"Yes, it seems that they need to keep their administration in check, and it seems that that is their weak spot, so they must find someone to fill it in."

"You mean like an employee?"

"Of some sort it seems." Anne replied. "They are a group of students, so all must be done by students. And that's where they got themselves into a bind."

"Because there are enough people to join their cause, but not enough to stand up to help them with such an obnoxious task?" Éponine guessed.

"Precisely." Anne replied, turning to put her book back into her rucksack.

"Hmm. Then why don't you do it?" she asked, getting a rather flustered look from her friend.

"M-Me?"

"Sure why not? You've got the hots for that Joly-guy right? It would be a good opportunity to get to know him."

"B-But...He...I..." she struggled.

"You just said to me: 'Just tell him.' Now I'm not telling you to do something so drastic, but it might be a good idea to try and blend in into their group."

Anne sighed. "I'm no good at that 'Ponine. Unlike you I'm not so brave."

"Me? Brave?" Éponine asked, rather taken aback by her brown haired friend who once more pushed up her blue glasses. It was a pity she wore them, she had amazingly green eyes. "You must be kidding me." she laughed, standing up from her spot on the cold bench.

"Don't deny it 'Ponine." Anne said, remaining seated. "You work so many part-time jobs...I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get myself even one..."

"It's not that hard. I'm convinced you would be able to do it." Éponine said, giving her friend a confident smile.

"Perhaps."

"Why don't you just give it a shot?"

"Maybe."

"Look." Éponine said, standing akimbo. "Think about whatever you want to say to them. As to why you want to take the task off of their hands. I'll go with you to confront them with your decision. I'll be there right beside you."

"Perhaps..." Anne said, looking away shyly.

Éponine was about to say something when the bell rang.

Trying to focus during the classes was rather hard for the eldest Thénardier daughter. She was constantly sleepy, and she longed to sleep in for once, but instead she knew she'd had to get up early for at least three two more years. But then, she realised, things would only start. There was no money to get her into college, so she figured she'd just get herself a full-time job. If she dared she'd get out of house, get herself a small house or a big apartment and get her siblings away from her abusing father. Her mother could stay there though. She felt no pity whatsoever for the woman who'd married the beast years ago. Her mind wandered through the options, and was glad with what a future with a good job she'd settle, but then her mind would reel back to the time when they'd been just a regular family, no, a rather well-doing family, before their tavern went bankrupt. She'd had the option to go to college and to study whatever the hell she'd want to study. She'd stopped thinking about law school years ago, but it still lingered somewhere in the back of her mind, like a virus-like longing. She blinked a few times, getting both her thoughts and the sleepiness from her head. Instead she focussed on the course and the clock that hung efficiently above the teachers head. It was both reassuring and depressing at the same time. A few more hours and she'd help her friend put her first steps towards talking with her long-time crush. Her chocolate eyes then glanced at her own watch, and watched somewhat frightfully when she noticed the band was nearing the end of its life. Would she be able to buy a new one? Perhaps a second-hand one?

Finally it was time, and Éponine didn't waste any time getting towards her friend who regarded her hopelessly nervous. Standing outside of the building, where they usually met up.

"Ready to go?" Éponine asked the brunette.

"I'm not so sure Éponine." the girl started, fidgeting with the book in her hands.

Éponine had to fight back both a sigh of frustration and a chuckle. The first one was because she had absolutely no reason to be so nervous, and the second was because she was still clutching to her Jane Austen book. 'Pride And Prejudice' huh?

"Well, I'm sure in your stead." the slightly taller girl said, grabbing her friend by the arm and pulling her towards the building.

Things only got worse for Éponine once they had to get onto the stairs. The normally empty classroom Les Amis were allowed to use was on the third floor, highest up. It was the sole used classroom in school, for a fire had destroyed all the rest. No one ever got up there, it was deserted. Except for the classroom with Les Amis. They were loud and agitated. Students could hear them talk business and laugh throughout the whole hallway one level lower. Though no one could really tell what they were saying.

Éponine was quickly out of breath from pulling her friend along. It wasn't that she didn't have the strength, but the bruise she suffered was making everything harder, as it hurt with the slightest movement she'd make.

"We're here." she stated, making her friend tremble even more in fear.

"Éponine, I..."

Not listening to the girl Éponine knocked onto the door.

"Oh, come on Anne, there's no need to be..." she spoke, looking from her friend to the door which had opened. Only to reveal Pontmercy Marius. Her crush.

"B-Bonjour." she greeted.

"Bonjour." Marius spoke, bowing slightly to which Éponine nodded her head, curtsying slightly. Next to her she felt Anne do the same in a more elegant way.

"'Ponine? Do you need something?"

Quickly shaking her nervousness off of her she turned slightly to Anne. "My friend heard about your little 'problem'."

"What's the matter with you Marius!" they heard a voice from a known figure throughout the whole school. Grantaire was well known for not being shy of acting stupid the whole time. But at the same time, he was by far the most jovial of Les Amis. He would let anyone join them. No matter who, why or for how long. As long as they had a good time, it was all good for him.

"Where are my manners." Marius excused himself, moving to let the girls in.

Looking around Éponine noticed how all the guys -and there were many- looked them up and down. Some wary, some grinning like no tomorrow.

"What do you need with us?" she suddenly heard a deep voice speak up. Looking at the source Éponine found herself in front of Enjolras Jonathan.

"Bonjour Enjolras." she said friendly, though her tone made clear she wanted him to be a little kinder. He quirked an eyebrow at this. He was used to having people respect him, and immediately do as he said, but this girl, for whatever reason, stood up to him. He felt a shudder go through him.

He did not give in to her though.

Éponine sighed mentally, she couldn't deal with him now, nor with the annoyed feeling that went to her stomach like a thousand jolts of electricity.

"We're here for the 'problem' you're facing." she said, motioning for her and Anne.

"Problem?" Enjolras asked. He hated how fast news travelled.

"About the administrative side of your group." Anne spoke softly, seeing Éponine wasn't going to reply.

Éponine resisted the urge to just turn on her heel and get the hell away from there. The young man in front of her annoyed her beyond limits, and then she had a friend next to her who replied to his every question.

Enjolras regarded the smaller girl next to the defiant one that annoyed him. "Administration." he mumbled. "Yes, we could actually use someone who could do some things for us." he motioned for the girls to follow towards a desk.

They sat down.

"Could you tell us some more of the requirements?" Anne asked in such a shy way that Éponine felt sorry for her, and she was her best friend!

"Well as you know Les Amis de l'ABC are a group of students aiming for the equality of every student. At this moment in time, it is not so. Not by a long shot. So, we have representatives in almost every class, among which me."

Anne nodded. Éponine just folded her hands in front of her chest and regarded him intently. He didn't seem to care and continued.

"It brings a lot of work along with it, seeing as the representatives are now not only responsible for the needs of Les Amis, but also serve as a voice from the students towards the teachers. It's a lot of work."

Éponine fought back the urge to roll her eyes. What did the rich boy think a lot of work was?

"I see." Anne spoke. "So it's more than just the group, but more the entirety of it all for which you need help."

Enjolras nodded. Looking rather pleased with the girl in front of him. The girl with the glasses caught on fairly quickly. The defiant one however...he did not know what to think of her. She seemed nice, but she had a rough exterior which kept him from seeing what she was really about, and most of the time, he could read people fairly quickly. She was interesting. An enigma. A fierce one at that.

He cleared his throat. "So, I do not know whether or not you still feel up to the task..." he trailed off expectantly, throwing a glance at Joly, Combeferre, and Grantaire. Marius stood a while back, regarding them closely.

Within seconds his friends had made clear what they wanted. Enjolras felt like kicking Grantaire, but realized well enough how smart the guy was. So he really had to do that then, eh?

To his relief the shy one of the two nodded hefty. "Of course I do." she replied with a kind smile.

"And you?" Enjolras asked the Thénardier.

"Huh? What?" Éponine asked as she realised she was addressed. "Oh no, I'm not here for that purpose."

He raised an eyebrow. "Then why...?"

Sensing Anne's distress she sighed deeply. "I was just curious." her eyes travelled towards her watch. She could only afford to lose another ten minutes. This was taking far too long. It was supposed to be enough to just get Anne in, and then she'd dash out before they could do anything else. She cursed mentally. Her shift in the diner would start in twenty minutes. She'd have to make a dash for it to still make it on time. She frowned as she thought about the bruise. Would she be alright dashing? Well, she'd have to wait and see. She still felt Enjolras' gaze on her, and she now realised well enough the impact the young man had. She'd heard it from other girls who swooned over him like no tomorrow, but it really was something to be in his presence, though she only felt annoyed. His dark hair and eyes seemed to pierce through her, examining her very core.

"So you're going to leave your best friend with all the work?" Grantaire chimed in.

Éponine turned around wildly. "What?!" she snapped. The last thing she wanted to be charged for was leaving someone in need. She wasn't like that! She wasn't like the scum her father hung around with! "I'd never!"

"Then why don't you join?" Grantaire went on, receiving a glare from the girl.

"Look you..." she started, standing up from her seat and looking the tall boy into the eyes. "I did not come here for that purpose..."

"So you are leaving your friend alone with the work." Enjolras joined into the conversation.

Éponine, horrified, turned to both guys.

"Just look at her." Grantaire teased. "You leaving a girl so cute and kind all alone with us? And all the work?"

Éponine felt trapped. In guilt. She'd sworn never to become like her father. Sworn never to become scum that left behind friends for their own good. She'd sworn to become strong, and to be there for anyone who needed her. She glanced at Anne, who smile rather sadly and somewhat nervously.

Enjolras noticed the look of distress onto the girls face and felt a pang of guilt. He stopped talking her into joining, but it seemed Grantaire was sure to have her in their team, going on relentlessly.

"Then join." he said, holding up another copy of the paper he'd laid down in front of Anne, who immediately started to fill in the forms.

Éponine was in horror. She didn't want to let down anyone, but the mental pressure, along with the time pressure was pushing down on her. She really had to leave in five minutes, or she would be scolded for being late, and who knows, she might lose one of her precious jobs.

"I need to go." she spoke, but Grantaire didn't give up.

"You're really letting down your friend?"

At the door Éponine gripped the doorknob firmly, and she felt locked. She'd sworn. But she didn't have time. She'd sworn. No time. Sworn. No Time. Oath. Time. Money. Time. Brothers. Sisters. Friends. Time. Money. Job.

Before she knew what was going on she'd grabbed the damned paper from Grantaire's hands and -with a pen that appeared from out of nowhere- filled in the form, signing it without as much as a thought. A sign that bound her to an enormous amount of work, and an enormous responsibility she'd soon have to carry.

And that was how Éponine became part of Les Amis.

_Hey you guys! This is my first Les Misérables fanfiction, and I'm so excited to go see the movie tomorrow that I thought, why not throw a fanfic up on the internet. The 'sad' (?) thing is this just kept growing and growing from a simple thought for a one-shot into __**this**__. It's going to be huge, and I'll need a long time to get it all written down. Especially since I want to show how hard it's to be poor in the world of today. And -even if it annoys even me- I want to show how the revolution is far from over. If you open your eyes, you'll find that the world of today doesn't differ too much from that of Victor Hugo's time. Wow, enough of the 'Revolution' peptalk. Let me think what you thought of the first chapter and make me happy! XD_


	2. Chapitre Deux

_For__those__who__question__the__title__of__this__story,__it__comes__from__a__song__against__child__abuse.__Youtube__it!__I__must__warn__you__though,__it__easily__makes__you__cry.__"_

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables. I am the proud owner of an Éponine Cap though. XD

Concrete Angel.

Chapitre Deux.

Grumbling slightly Éponine dashed out of the room, more than a little annoyed. That annoying guy had made her apply for a job for which she had no time whatsoever and now she was going to be late for her job as well!

'Merde Éponine!' she scolded herself mentally as she urged herself to go even faster, something which wasn't doing too well for the bruises which ran along her abdomen. At the time she had been rather grateful that her father had refrained from hitting her on the arms or face, and instead focussed on her abdomen though, it was far more easy to hide than bruises on her arms or face. She'd had that one time, and she and Azelma had had to plunder the envelope which contained the money they kept for emergencies to go buy some make-up to cover it all up. Of course Azelma had been the one to go. It would raise enormous suspicion if she'd went there herself.

Grabbing her bike she swung her leg over it while running and quickly got the thing into motion, pushing her messenger bag back as she manoeuvred towards the street. She loved the old messenger bag a lot, but in times like these, it was enormously annoying to have it hung around your torso.

Her breathing became shallow as she did her best to get to the diner as soon as possible. She nearly collided with two cars, an old lady and a nanny pushing along a buggy, but she didn't stop. There was just no way she could lose her job now, it was far too hard to find jobs which paid cash these days, so there was no other option than to bite through the pain that went through her with every movement she made, and to just pedal non-stop.

In the meantime in the Les Amis room Anne was excused and a somewhat annoyed Enjolras turned to Grantaire.

"Care to explain why we needed the other girl as well?" he asked, raising a sceptical eyebrow.

Grantaire seemed to shrug at this, standing up from his seat and sauntering over to the 'Leader'.

"Just a feeling." he said dramatically as he slumped down next to Enjolras who once more raised an eyebrow.

"A feeling?" he echoed "You pushed a girl into joining us against her will just because of a feeling?"

"Yuppedy Yup Yup." the guy replied taking another swig of his Red Bull.

"You do know that's not allowed in school right?" Enjolras mumbled, looking away from the guy who didn't seem to care less.

"Are you sure she's trustworthy then?" Courfeyrac, a blonde haired boy said as he stood from his stool.

Grantaire didn't reply, but instead took another swig.

"Grantaire..." Courfeyrac threatened.

"What can I say?" he said with a big smile on his face. "It's a feeling."

Enjolras shook his head. He was a guy who wanted people to have their freedom, and one of his 'own men' had just taken that very thing from an innocent girl that just happened to want to help her friend. Goodness was punished right under his very nose. His fist clenched.

"Éponine, table five." said a plump woman who hurried over to the kitchen of the diner with a plate full of dishes.

"Got it! " Éponine said, quickly wiping her wet hands on her apron, and quickly walked over to the table to get their orders. As she did so, a young boy with brown hair and mischievous eyes walked into the diner. Gavroche's eyes immediately settled onto his sister who just turned on her heel to go for the bar.

"Hey Gavroche." she said as she passed him and walked behind the counter to get the customers their drinks. "What's up?"

Gavroche smiled and sat down onto one of the stools. "I got another job." he proclaimed proudly.

"What?!" Éponine said, frowning immediately. "I thought we were clear on that 'Vroche. You were not to take another job for at least a year."

"Yeah I know." Gavroche said, straightening his back immediately, and Éponine knew she was going to have a hard time talking him out of it. "It's not big deal." he said, looking straight at her as she continued with her work. "I'm just to help every Saturday morning at the market."

"The market?" Éponine questioned, raising an eyebrow. She quickly glanced at the table she was serving, to see if they were complaining yet.

"What do you have to do?"

"Just the preparation." he said, but then his face dropped "Because I'm too young for the rest." he added, shoulders slumping slightly.

"Gavroche." Éponine said in a scolding tone. "You're ten years old. You shouldn't even be working yet."

"Delivering papers is something you did at an even younger age!" he countered.

She shrugged. They'd had this conversation before, and in all honesty, it made them sound like an old married couple.

"Besides..." Gavroche continued, though what he added was mostly whispered "It pays good."

"How good?" Éponine asked, wheels starting to turn in her head.

"No you don't 'Ponine!" Gavroche said, raising his voice slightly. "You already have three jobs. Don't add one."

She sighed, picking up the tray. "We could use it though."

"Yeah I know." Gavroche spoke softly as she walked towards the customers.

Éponine stretched her sore shoulders as her shift finally came to its end. Gavroche was still there she noticed as she once more disappeared into the locker room. There she sighed deeply, leaning against the metallic structure for a second. She and Gavroche both understood well enough how much they needed the extra money. But she just didn't want him to overwork himself. He was ten for goodness sake! Once more her hands clenched into fists as the unfairness of it all hit her. They weren't supposed to work for their parent's sake! They should be hopping around, listening to music, hang out with friends and have fun. Instead they awoke before the sun rose, scrambled to their feet whenever their parents were in bad moods to get out in time, paid for schools, paying back to whoever their parents owed money as much as they could to keep them away with long intervals, always fearing society would show up with the questions they should already be asking. Tears stung behind Éponine's eyelids as she thought about what was bound to happen if that came to pass. They would all be split up. They would either be sent to families who would care for them, or they would be sent to an institution. But no matter what the outcome. They would be split up. She would not see her siblings grow up, she would no longer laugh with their stupid jokes or hilarious pranks. That would all be lost forever if she did not get her act together and worked her ass of. She had to make this work.

'Two more years.' she kept telling herself. 'Two more years, and then I'll be able to leave the house, and I'm going to take my siblings with me.'

They'd be happy. Working together like they'd always did. She would find a good job, have Gavroche resign from many of his jobs and let them live in the bliss she never had. She would pull it off. One way or the other she was going to keep up the lifestyle she'd had for years now, for the sake of saving her siblings from living it fully. She would do it.

'I vow I will save them.' she told herself mentally as she regarded her face in the small mirror that hung on the inside of her locker. 'I vow I will protect them with everything I have.'

Gavroche stood outside as Éponine emerged from the diner, all ready to go home.

"I know..." he said as she glared at him while her fingers pried open the lock on her white bike.

"Then why do I need to repeat myself?" Éponine grumbled as she finally got the lock to cooperate and pushed it into her worn messenger bag.

"Because I do not want you to work all on your own!" Gavroche said, pushing his own brown cap further onto his head. The cap was something he cherished. Of all the siblings, they were the only two who had one of them. Azelma didn't like how it looked on her, and the two youngest had each wanted a spider-man cap rather than to match with their working siblings. He understood though. They were young, at at their age, he'd have wanted another too. But now, this cap linked him to his sister, and with it all they went through. "You're taking too much on your own! Azelma doesn't work because you don't want her too, but she could be bringing in money."

"Don't talk like that." Éponine snapped as she threw her leg over her bike. "There needs to be someone home to take care of the kids."

"We're kids too." Gavroche mumbled under his breath.

It pained Éponine to look at her brother. She loved him so much, and seeing him how he was dressed and how he behaved. It was too much. He was dressed like her, torn jeans, worn shoes, and patched up shirts. She gritted her teeth. Gavroche was the sort of guy who'd have to be running around happy, all excited over the next baseball game they're going to win. But no, fate decided otherwise. Fate decided he'd be born a Thénardier. That he'd be forced to work to pay of his parents' debts.

"I know Gavroche." she mumbled. All turned silent as they pedalled on towards their home.

"It'll be alright you know." Gavroche whispered more to himself. He was young and happy, for as happy as he could be, but he still had moments where he had to confirm to himself that things were really going to be alright, for no one else would say it. Except for Éponine, and Azelma on occasions. But he'd been getting trouble stomaching Azelma, as she was always home and never even mentioned trying to get a job herself. They needed someone home, true. But did it always have to be her? What about Éponine who worked day in day out just to keep them clothed and fed?

"We will be alright." Éponine spoke, cutting through the darkness and the silence that kept both siblings apart. She turned to her brother.

"We will be alright." she repeated, eyes gleaming with determination.

Gavroche stared at his older sister for a moment, before nodding and confirming. "Yeah, we will."

The sky was pitch-black when they finally got home. Éponine regarded the sky warily. A moonless sky.

'No trees full of starlight tonight.' she thought sadly.

"'Ponine!" Gavroche urged her on, standing on the few steps towards their front door.

"Coming." she replied, quickly making her way towards him. The light was still on the kitchen, they saw from there on, so things must still be going well.

Quietly, as to not alert anyone the two made their way inside, keeping their coats, caps and bags with them.

Azelma jumped slightly as they sneaked into the kitchen which was through the first door to their left as they entered.

"Jesus guys..." she said, grabbing at her chest, clearly startled. "You guys should really stop doing that."

"It's this, or getting in trouble for making too much noise." Gavroche replied with a sad smile. Both he and Éponine where the best in getting in and out unnoticed. That was partly because they were the only two brave enough to face the overwhelming odds whereas Azelma wouldn't dare. They wouldn't even think of asking the youngest of their group. They would be killed with one hit from their parent's hands.

"Are they here?" Éponine asked, listening intently.

Azelma shook her head as she stirred in the pot on the stove. "Dad's out with the Montparnasse's. Mum's in the next room, watching her favourite soap opera's again."

Éponine nodded as her sister set a steaming bowl of soup in front of her. Normally she'd get it herself, for most of the time Azelma would already be upstairs with the littlest of them, keeping them from sight from their parents, but seeing their father wasn't home, and their mother was preoccupied with watching television, there wasn't so much to fear. Until he came home at least.

They ate in silence, apart from Azelma who turned off the stove, and finished up doing the dishes.

Gavroche handed her his empty bowl as she came up.

"Refill?" Azelma asked, but Gavroche immediately shook his head like she'd expected him to. She turned to Éponine who handed her her own bowl as well. Her older sister too shook her head. It pained Azelma. She was in charge of preparing dinner and keeping the house somewhat clean, as well as keeping a firm eye on the youngest children to who her mother never looked at twice. Well, it was the same with them anyway.

"Let's just clean up and go upstairs." Gavroche said, standing and lending Azelma a hand. It was past eight and they all still had homework to do.

Éponine stood and helped her siblings, but then her sensible ears picked up an alarming sound.

"'Zelma, 'Roche, let it go, get upstairs." Gavroche wanted to protest but she threw him a glare that was very clear. He was not to disobey.

Trying to calm her suddenly quick beating heart she continued to do the dishes. The front door opened, and closed with a heavy sound. She focussed.  
'Only one.' she thought, keeping herself occupied while not letting any information slip past her as to what was happening in the small hallway.

She heard a disgusting burp as her father clearly tried to keep up straight. Hearing his keys drop she knew he was still sober enough to actually remember where they were.

"A beer!" he yelled, and she heard him slump towards the living room.

This was her cue. Someone had to do it, and she'd be damned to let her siblings go through this if she had a say in the matter.

Quickly grabbing a beer from the fridge she doubted. Normally she'd try to lighten the beer a bit with water, trying to preserve as much as possible, because they were on a tight budget. But she knew. He wasn't drunk enough. He'd notice. Her memories immediately taught her not to try her luck. Once she'd tried to buy cheaper beer, using it when he was hammered, but one night, he hadn't been drunk enough and he'd noticed, beating the heck out of her. The worst thing was, as she was lying on the cold floor of the living room, she could only think how happy she was it was her who'd been slammed into the wall and kicked in the gut, and not her brothers or sister. It was sick, she realised, the way they were being raised, but she had no option whatsoever. So, she'd go on with it.

'Two years.' she reminded herself as she grabbed the beer and walked through the door into the hallway, turning left immediately and walking towards the living room where the hallway ended.

Even though it was only the beginning of autumn, it was cold. They were keeping the heaters off for most of the time, but it was freezing, and her blood ran cold as she saw her father, slumped in the sofa, an arm around his wife, and a hand...she didn't want to think about it.

"Here." she said, quickly giving him the beer.

"Thatta girl." he said with a thick tongue. "Get goin' now." he said, glaring at her as if she'd done something wrong already. "Give yer mum and me some alone time."

'Whatever.' she thought, smart enough to not let herself say it. She loathed the man in front of her, along with his whore of a wife, a terrible excuse for a mother, too afraid to get hit to say something to her own husband!

"Of course." she answered quickly. Walking up to the stairs, not bothering to dim the lights in the kitchen. She wanted to be gone before it began. She'd puke for sure.

"How did it go?" Gavroche asked as she entered their room.

"Not too bad. Just got him his drink." Éponine replied as she sat down on her bed next to the window after having closed the three locks they'd put onto the door.

"There's barely any left." Azelma said, a bit worried. "What if..."

"Oh please 'Zelma!" Gavroche exclaimed. "Keep the What if at bay! We know what will happen when he wants more and finds none."

Azelma kept silent. They were all on edge from the moment their father returned home at night. He'd be too sleepy in the morning to do much, so the mornings were fairly alright, but at night he was in his element.

"Let's just not think about it. What will come will come." Éponine reasoned, pulling her messenger bag onto her lap. Gavroche had been smart enough to take it with him upstairs along with her jacket and cap.

They all nodded and turned to their work.

From her seat on her bed she regarded all the people packed into what was actually her room. Once when her father had been extremely drunk and aggressive, she'd decided to buy some sleeping bags, just to be able to keep her siblings close, and safe at night. Though it had only been a once-in-a-few-weeks-thing, she found herself sharing her bedroom with her brothers and sister the whole time. They kept some food in the back of her wardrobe, and her night stand held the envelope's in which the money was kept. It pained her to see her youngest siblings fast asleep in their respective sleeping bags in the corner of the tight space. They looked content though, as if things were normal like this. She gritted her teeth, once more tears threatening to spill. Instead she swallowed the lump and forced herself to be too angry to cry. It helped a load, she found. As long as she was angry, she wasn't going to lose to her despair. The despair that came with the situation she found herself in, and how endless it seemed.

Gavroche's and her voice echoed through her head.

"We will be alright."

TranslationNotes:

_Merde_: Shit

_Hope__you__liked__the__second__chapter.__I'm__not__sure__how__quick__I__can__update,__seeing__I__have__three__more__chapter__stories__running.__I'll__try__my__best__though,__to__get__it__up__in__a__reasonable__rhythm.__Anyway__if__you__like__these__kinds__of__stories,__you__might__want__to__check__out__Hana__Yori__Dango__and__Kaichou__wa__Maid-sama.__Both__are__Japanese__series__which__revolve__around__a__poor__girl__who__meet(s)__(a)__rich__boy(s).__I__must__say__though__that__you'll__need__to__seek__the__J-drama__of__the__first,__and__the__anime__of__the__second.__Believe__me,__the__anime__of__the__first__is__extremely__old...I__don't__like...^^__" __Did__you__guys__know__there's__an__anime__of__Les__Misérables?__Yeah,__I'm__into__Japan(ese)__and__Anime!__(Check__my__profile__and__the__stories__I've__already__written.) Anyway, please let me know what you think of this chapter. _


	3. Chapitre Trois

_Warning:__I__use__the__actors__of__the__Les__Misérables__in__Concert__25__th__Anniversary.__Yes,__even__the__Jonas__guy!__I__can't__help__it,__it's__the__first__Les__Misérables__I__really__paid__attention__to,__and__I__just__can't__imagine__someone__else__as__Marius.__In__my__opinion__his__weaker__voice__makes__Marius'__character__even__better,__seeing__as__he's__kind__of__the__kind/cute__guy__in__the__story.__Anyway,__onto__the__story._

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.

Concrete Angel.

Chapitre Trois.

An annoyed Éponine made her way towards her first class when a vaguely known voice reached her ears. It made her squirm.

"Bonjour Mameselle." she heard Grantaire's voice beam as he came to walk next to her, hanging a nonchalant arm around her shoulders which she quickly pushed off.

He didn't seem to mind though as he kept in step with her.

"Bonjour Grantaire." she spoke, not slowing down.

"Oh come on not so distant." he said, pulling a fake pained face as he turned to walk backwards, facing her, gripping at his heart dramatically. "It's Jules for friends."

"Your friends just call you Grantaire if I remember correctly." she replied, trying not to laugh. She wasn't in a good mood, nor was she the laughing kind, but the way Grantaire skipped through the hallways, and his life at that, was amusing to watch.

"Maybe they just are not my friends." he tried, not able to keep a big, good-natured smile off of his face.

"We'll remember that." they heard another voice speak up.

At this Grantaire decided to turn around to watch the way he was headed to face the speaking boy.

"Oh come on Feuilly" Grantaire started "It's not like you want me to call your Marcel do you?"

Feuilly's eyebrow twitched at this, but next to him Courfeyrac stifled a laugh. In school every teacher called their students by their last name, so even close friends weren't used to hearing their best friends' first names, and thus they didn't only use them often themselves, but it was always funny to hear the real name of one so close to you. Especially if it was such a name that made the person in question blush.

"Shut it Courfeyrac." Feuilly shot back at the blonde.

"Sorry man." the said boy apologised before turning back to Grantaire. "Anyway why are you annoying the..." he then looked around.

"Wha-" Grantaire mumbled, looking around, slightly confused as to when Éponine got away from them.

Éponine sighed as she sat down in class. Dropping her head in her hands. How was she ever going to cope with them? Not only where they the most popular guys in school, but they were all from good, rich families...she shook her head. She refused to let that get to her. On the contrary she would get herself out of their club, so that they could not let her stay longer at school, and work for them. She would do it as soon as she'd talked to Anne about it. The poor girl may have a huge crush on the Joly guy, but that didn't concern her. She'd already been kind enough to go with her, getting herself into this predicament in the first place. She didn't need the extra work, nor did she care for their cause. They were always going on about human rights and how it should be dealt with from childhood, teaching the people what were their rights. Éponine refrained from snorting. She knew how strong rights were.

Her fists clenched as she tried to deny the whirlpool of horror in which she lived. What did the popular rich boys know anyway? What did they know about hunger? Or cold? Or pain? Sure, they all had their problems no doubt, but was life as hard on them as it was on her? Her nails dug deep into her palms as she clenched her hands to the fullest.

"So you're in my English class?" she suddenly heard a voice speak up. Looking up she saw a guy with a bright smile. He had light brown hair and light brown eyes which seemed to sparkle.

"And you are?" she asked, trying her best not to sound too harsh. She could do that to the Grantaire guy, he'd shrug it off anyway, but she had no idea how the curly haired boy in front of her would react.

"Guessed you wouldn't know my name." he countered easily, his smile never wavering. "A poet has to regard the scene from afar to see what others do not."

Éponine felt herself raise an eyebrow. She remembered hearing something of a poet among Les Amis. So it was this guy.

"Anyway." he continued. "My name is Prouvaire Jehan."

"Thénardier Éponine." she said taking his held out hand, blushing slightly as he placed a chaste kiss on top of it.

"Glad to make your acquaintance." he said. "I shall take my leave now." he announced as the bell rang. "I do not wish to anger the dragon that is our teacher."

Éponine had to fight back a smile at that comment. Many didn't like their English teacher, but to go as far as to call her a dragon...

No matter how much she didn't want to get them to her, Éponine had to admit that if she hadn't been this annoyed from the morning she'd rather enjoyed the way things were going. It never hurt to have more friends. Especially not when they were known all around the campus. On the contrary it would keep the unwanted ones at a distance.

As if on cue she felt his eyes in her back. He was in her English class too, but she never acknowledged him. On the contrary she'd try to ignore him as much as possible, trying to keep a low profile and rushing off the moment the bell rang. Which was a few minutes ago. Like a shadow she'd flung her bag over her shoulder and escaped the classroom before Montparnasse could come after her. It was partly because of his father that hers had become this bad. Not that her father was a saint, quite the contrary, but the fact that his father didn't shy away from a lie or two didn't make things any better for them. In the depths of her heart Éponine had to admit that she feared them. She would always stand her ground, but she knew, she knew that when things would go out of hand she didn't stand a chance. The bruises she'd already suffered in the past would be nothing compared to what would happen to her if such a thing came to pass. She shuddered as she quickly got herself to her next classes. In the back of her mind Éponine wondered. If she could become real friends with Les Amis...would he leave her alone then? She rather doubted it, but hope was something one had not much control over, and it was the only thing her parents nor her situation could take away from her.

"Hey, Éponine." she heard Pontmercy's voice, and a blush crept onto her face, and butterflies suddenly fluttered around in her stomach, despite her rotten mood.

"Bonjour Monsieur Marius." she spoke.

"Leave the Monsieur behind 'Ponine." he said, flashing her one of the smiles she adored.

Her blush deepened as he once more called her by her nickname. It was what Anne had scolded her for, telling her she mustn't be afraid to try to get closer to him when he still thought of her as a friend. Yet that was exactly what Éponine didn't want. She didn't want him to see her as a friend. He wanted to see her. She wanted his hand to take hers, fingers entwining as they'd walk alongside each other. She shook her head as she realised he was talking to her.

"'Ponine? Are you alright?" he asked, looking at her.

"W-what?" she asked, getting her feet back on the ground.

"I asked how you were doing?" he reminded her.

"Me? I'm fine." she replied mechanically. "And you? It's been a while since you lived next doors."

He smiled weakly. "Yeah, it really has been a while. Four years now if I remember it well."

"Five I think." Éponine spoke, correcting him.

"Really? It doesn't feel so long."

'Perhaps for you.' Éponine thought bitterly. She could clearly remember the day he left. Suddenly the grandfather with whom his parents had words with suddenly appeared. From then on out her world turned a shade darker. Her best friend gone after a month. And from that moment out things made a turn for the worst, getting her to the point where they were now. All minors, working their asses off for their parents.

"Well, anyway." he continued, taking her by the wrist to stop her in her tracks. "I'm glad you signed up for Les Amis."

Éponine nodded, the butterflies going haywire in her stomach. But in the back of her mind a thought whirled around, annoying as a bug.

'Didn't you notice I didn't really want to join?'

She pushed the thought back though. His smiling face was all she could think about, staring up at him in his chocolate eyes and dark curly hair. The place where he held her wrist felt warm, and she wanted nothing more than to put her own hand on top of his. To feel his soft hand under her calloused one.

But the moment passed by too soon, and he let go of her.

"Now I'm afraid I must hurry to class." he said with an apologising smile.

"Y-Yeah." she stuttered. "Me too."

"Let's meet up after class. You know where." he said before turning on his heel and entering the classroom where they'd stopped in their tracks.

'Yeah.' Éponine thought bitterly. 'I know where.'

Classes went by in haze from that moment out, though she still felt rather annoyed. Why she didn't know, but it had something to do with Les Amis. She had no time to spare and they'd dragged her into things she didn't want to have any part in. She grumbled mentally as she walked over to her locker. For once there were no people left. Normally she too would be gone by now, hurrying to pick up the children with Azelma. She got startled as a hand slammed against her locker right next to her head. Alarmed she turned around.

"Montparnasse." she sneered, eyes darkening.

"Bonjour mademoiselle." he said, voice dripping with venom. "Haven't seen you around a lot."

"Well, I'm busy, much as yourself."

He smirked at that. "Yeah, we do good business."

"Good for you." she replied, trying to end the conversation at that. Unluckily though, Montparnasse was either dense or didn't see their little conversation as ended. She knew it was the latter though she'd rather have it was the former.

"Something else?"

"Yeah. I said I haven't been seeing you around." he spoke, leaning closer to her.

"I know." Éponine replied, trying to keep the fearful feeling at bay. She couldn't show him any fear. He was like a wild animal, dominant. If he realised she was fighting her hardest not to try and run away she'd be his victim for the rest of her life. A prey which he'd eventually have.

"So...if you are capable of reading between the lines, I'd like to see you some more."

Éponine gritted her teeth. "I'm sorry, but I'm on a tight schedule." she regarded her watch. "Actually I have to be somewhere right now."

"Really?" he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes, really." Éponine replied, daring to turn around and close her locker, having taken everything she needed.

He looked at her through angry, yet amused eyes.

"So if you will excuse me." she spoke, ducking under his arm and walking away.

"See you later." he called after her.

She turned slightly. She couldn't anger him. He'd tell his father and his father would tell hers.

"Yeah, sure." And with that she made her way out of there.

"Éponine!" Anne exclaimed as she reached the staircase which would lead her up to the third floor. "Where were you?"

"Around." Éponine replied, calming her rapid heartbeat and trying to smile.

"Oh, okay." Anne said, slightly taken aback from the cool response she got. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, but why haven't you gone on ahead?" Éponine asked.

At that Anne blushed a deep red. "I'm...It's...You know..."

Éponine resisted the urge to sigh. Her friend was smart, cute and kind, but she had no self-confidence whatsoever.

"No need to fuss." Éponine said. "We'll go up together."

"Thanks."

As soon as she opened the door Éponine stood face to face with an annoyed looking Enjolras. And that was what pissed her off the exact same moment. Who did he think he was, looking down on her like that?

"You're late."

"We know." she replied, putting her hands on her hips, looking him square in the eyes.

"Why?"

"None of your business."

"It is if you come too late for the meetings."

"Meetings?" Éponine asked, voice dripping with sarcasm which annoyed the raven haired boy in front of her.

Behind him Éponine heard someone stifle a laugh. By the looks of it, it was Grantaire. The boy just couldn't act normal could he? Though next to him, it seemed like Joly and Courfeyrac were having some trouble composing themselves as well.

Enjolras glared at the petite girl in front of him. She was a good head smaller than he was, too slim even for the 'popular' standards, had dark brown hair and coffee brown eyes that looked straight at him. Not a flicker of fear went through them as he hovered above her. This was somewhat a surprise for him. It happened often that girls tried to come and talk to him, but they were always chased off when he looked at them. His friends told him he shouldn't glare, then he'd retort that he just had a serious look and that he couldn't help it. Yet, this little creature in front of him didn't give a kick under his mental pressure which he knowingly sent to her. On the contrary she seemed to straighten up, as if she prepared herself for battle. Interesting.

"We're late because of me." a small voice interrupted his thoughts.

As if stung by a bee Éponine turned to see her friend, all nerves looking up at the 'fearful leader of Les Amis'.

Enjolras regarded the other girl that stood behind Éponine. She looked far more obedient than the other, and enormously easier to handle.

"Never mind. Don't let it happen again." he said, turning on his heel and walking over to the head of the big table that stood to the right side of the room.

Éponine glared at his back. He annoyed her from the minute she walked in. Who was he to say they were not to be late? It's not like they signed any...

'Oh right.' she thought. Once she stepped inside she looked around carefully. When she'd been there the day before she hadn't taken the time to look around. It was like any classroom. Big windows to the side which looked out to the outdoor basketball field, and windows that looked out to the hallways. There was a set of three old green sofa's in the left corner with against nearly every wall bookshelves filled to the brim with books, papers, and did she see a baseball glove?

Realising they were really waiting for them she quickly sat down next to Anne and Courfeyrac. The blonde guy looked at her, and she realised he still had the urge to burst out laughing, which was stopped by the stern look Enjolras gave him.

"Where's Marius?" Combeferre asked as he spotted an open seat.

"He's excused himself." Enjolras sighed.

'Wait? What?' Éponine thought. He'd told her to wait up for her here didn't he? And now he'd run off?!

"Anyway." Enjolras continued. "Let's get onto the business at hand." he looked at the two girls who, for the first time were gathered around his table. "Let's welcome our two new members."

At this Éponine and Anne received a small applause, and Éponine could feel Anne shrink next to her.

"Anne." Enjolras addressed the poor brunette who looked up rather shyly. "We'll be giving you some work afterwards."

She nodded to this.

"For the rest" he continued "We still have a ways to go to really get the teachers to listen to us and our intentions. For now they've only been giving us the most obnoxious of tasks, which we have yet to fulfil."

'Maybe if you did that first, then they might actually start listening.' Éponine thought bitterly, leaning her head onto her hand.

"Which brings us to the next task." Enjolras finished, nodding towards Feuilly who stood. "Now we have two more members to our group, we'd like you to take up your responsibility. For three years have we been trying to stand up for students when they were in trouble with teachers, other students or things outside of the building, yet there is still a way to go before they'll trust us. Seeing the school year just started off we'll be needing the new class lists as soon as possible, so that we know where to find who, etc..." He looked around at them. "For three years have we nine been responsible for all students, but as of today we'll be able to divide the work in eleven. For which I thank the two girls."

Anne nodded with a kind smile while Éponine just stared at him. The brown haired, chocolate eyed man gulped under her stare and continued explaining what it was they needed to do.

"So, anyone more ideas as to what we may do?" Enjolras finished Feuilly's speech. "Feel free to speak." he said, motioning for Anne and Éponine.

"Yeah, I have something." Éponine spoke, trying her hardest not to yell in frustration.

"Do tell."

"Can I go? I understand all the assignments I have to fulfil, and I'm on a tight schedule as it is."

Enjolras blinked. Tight schedule? He sighed, it was not like she signed in of her own accord. He glanced at Grantaire, who ducked away from his death glare. How in the world were they going to make things work with someone so uninterested in their cause?

"Alright." he sighed, looking at the rest of them of whom every student nodded. "You can go. Have your work done by next week."

"Sure thing." she said in a dark voice before standing and leaving the room under the eyes of everyone left in the room, trying to ignore the fearful glance Anne threw her. She couldn't dawdle any longer. In less than thirty minutes her shift at the diner would start. And anyhow, they'd taken enough time already, she didn't need to feel bad about it.

She did feel embarrassed when she thought back to all their faces during work. Every damned student there believed in what they were doing. And then she came, somehow making fun of it all and running off before all was discussed and finished. She knew from the rumours that they sometimes were present until late after school hours, doing stuff other than debate how to help students, but she'd run off in a rather mean way. She sighed, as she dried off the last dishes of the night. Somehow she couldn't calm down. From the moment she'd awoken she'd been touchy, on edge and annoyed, and she couldn't help it. But somehow deep inside, as she thought about Enjolras' reaction, she couldn't blame him in the slightest. He was a guy that went through a lot of trouble for even one student. He was passionate about law, and the rights even the youngest among them had, and she'd stepped on it. She nearly trampled it.

"Éponine?" her boss suddenly called out to her.

"Yes Madame Toulouse?" she asked.

"You seem a little tired. You can go home early if you wish. It's not like there are a lot of customers today."

"Are you sure?" Éponine asked. Though she wanted to get out soon, she wondered if it would be held off of her paycheck. Something she couldn't afford no matter how much she yearned to be freed from her daily activities.

"Yes, now go." Madame Toulouse spoke, nodding with a smile on her face. Though old, the woman had a smile that could brighten anyone's day, and Éponine was not different. A smile fought up its way to her face and she nodded.

"Thanks."

The night sky greeted her as she set foot out of the diner. The cold wind swept through her hair, wiping it out of her face and making a shudder go through her entire being. She loved the night. It brought peace, in a weird way. It was calm, soothing. Leading her bike by hand she walked. Though she knew she might regret not rushing home, she couldn't find the will to do so. Seeing Les Amis working, planning to do new things had touched her heart. And though she felt egoistic in their presence, she'd really enjoyed their time together. Her smile turned into a sad one. She knew she had to give up on Les Amis. She wouldn't be able to keep up working and attending to their meetings and doing what they did. It would tire her endlessly and she'd fall behind everywhere. With a sting in her heart, she decided to turn her back on the noble boys at the next meeting.

_Hope__you__liked__the__chapter.__I'm__not__entirely__sure__where__the__story's__going__so__it's__amusing__to__see__the__story__develop__in__front__of__my__eyes__as__I__write__away.__It's__partly__annoying__though,__seeing__the__characters__and__the__story__tend__to__make__their__own__decisions__and__me__just__following__after__it,__hoping__I__get__to__fit__in__the__scenes__I__really__want__in.__" __Stories...you__can't__really__control__them__a__100%__right?__"_


	4. Chapitre Quatre

_Fanfiction VS Kunaigirl Part Three! Will I ever -with this new program I'm using- get my Author's notes with spaces in-between?! O.o_

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.

Concrete Angel.

Chapitre Quatre.

With a heavy, but resolved mind Éponine rode side by side with Azelma to school. The ride was pleasant, the breeze wasn't as cold as the last few days and the sun bravely fought off the clouds which threatened to conceal her shining form. A weak smile tugged on Éponine's lips. Miraculously their parents had been out the day before, and hadn't bothered to show up in the morning either. All was peaceful. Her smile disappeared as she thought of the mission which lay ahead of her. Getting out of Les Amis.

Ascending staircase after staircase she wondered if they'd already be there. She'd heard once that some people worried they spent entire weeks in that classroom, so she hoped there'd be someone present.

As she pushed open the door to the room she found that only two people were already there. Enjolras -how couldn't he be?- and Courfeyrac.

"Ah, bonjour Éponine." Courfeyrac greeted her with a warm smile as she entered the room "Strange to see you here so early."

Éponine nodded, her eyes involuntarily seeking out Enjolras who just glanced up, and nodded at her direction. Aparently he'd been occupied with something for he put down a bundle of papers and a pen.

"So what brings you here?" Courfeyrac, not missing the strange interaction between the two students who seemed to have gotten of a pretty rough start, asked.

"Well." Éponine began, walking up to him to where the blonde was seated atop one of the desks, feet up on the stool in front of him. She frowned.

"Shouldn't you keep your feet off the chair?" she asked, her tone cold.

"Nah." Courfeyrac said, his smile widening "It's Grantaire's."

Éponine couldn't entirely fight off the smile that crept up onto her face at that comment. It seemed Grantaire had a lot to pay for.

"What was it you wanted to say?" Enjolras asked, breaking through the silence that Courfeyrac's comment about the chair had brought over them.

"Well, I wonder if it is possible for me to withdraw from Les Amis." Éponine spoke, turning towards the dark haired student who looked her straight in the eyes. It annoyed her. It felt like a bolt of electricity went through her when he did that, and she wasn't sure she entirely liked the feeling. On the contrary, it made her feel like she had to prove something.

"Why would you want to leave?" Courfeyrac asked, and as Éponine looked at him, she saw -to her surprise- that he was looking a tad bit sad at her question.

"It's just that I do not have much free time to begin with. And it wasn't exactly going to apply for Les Amis either way." Éponine said in all honesty. She did have a very busy schedule after all.

"I only came here to bring Anne..." she continued, hoping either of the boys would say something. Anything. But instead they kept silent.

At last Enjolras let out a deep sigh. He'd seen it coming. She'd only joined them for one meeting, but from the start it had all been Grantaire's idea... He felt complied to let her go.

"The problem is..." Courfeyrac started.

"You can go." Enjolras said, to which Courfeyrac turned to him immediately, a shocked expression on his face.

Éponine felt her world light up for a short moment. She could go!

"Hold on just a sec'!" they suddenly heard Grantaire speak up from the door where he leaned against the door frame. "I'm afraid you can't."

"What?!" Éponine let out, turning to face the brown haired boy whose greenish eyes were looking at her with a playful glint she'd come to fear.

"Why not?" she retorted, closing in on him in such a violent way that alarmed Courfeyrac. The said boy leapt from his seat towards Éponine's side, putting a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Let's just hear what he has to say." he urged the dark haired girl on, after which he looked expectantly at the mentioned lad.

"Because, my dearedy dear Éponine, you signed a contract." he spoke, and as if to emphasize his objection he raised the said document.

Éponine's eyes turned dark as her anger rose. "That document was signed under your mental pressure! I do not think this is legal."

Grantaire's smile only widened, giving him a rather wicked look. "This seal here..." he said pointing at the sign of the school "Clearly shows that this is a legal document." He turned the first page to reveal the second. "And I do believe this is your autograph." He smiled widely at her while she grumbled, her fists balled.

"So...Enjolras...is this a legal document yes or no?"

Éponine turned to Enjolras with silently pleading eyes.

"It is a legal document." he stated, looking away from the dark-eyed girl as she looked at him horrified.

"As such." Grantaire continued, happy with his plea "You stay."

"For how long?" Éponine asked through clenched teeth, looking at the ground in defeat.

"A year."

Her nails dug into her hand as her anger rose. A whole year?! How was she supposed to cope with schoolwork, delivering papers, working at the diner and working as a member of Les Amis for a whole year?! Not able to contain her anger, and afraid to do something she might regret later on she dashed out of the room, pushing Grantaire not too gently out of the way as she went.

The said guy just smiled broadly as he watched her leap down the stairs.

"Did you really have to say it so harshly?" Courfeyrac asked, his expression clearly showing that he didn't approve of Grantaire's methods.

"With girls like Éponine, yes." the guy said, sauntering into the room. "She doesn't know it yet, but she has so much potential."

"Potential?" Courfeyrac asked, raising a sceptic eyebrow.

"You, my friend." Grantaire said, dropping down in one of the sofa's, one foot on the table "Still have a lot to learn."

"Grantaire." Enjolras' voice suddenly echoed through the room. "You do know that Les Amis are there to protect people, right."

"Of course I do!" Grantaire objected.

"Then why do you use our knowledge of law against one we must defend?"

Grantaire sighed. Their leader was fearless, genius and handsome, but he did not possess the ability to think outside of the box.

"You'll see, my friend. You'll see."

The bell rang and Éponine leapt to her feet. She'd not only been able to stay away from Montparnasse, but she'd also been able to keep away from Grantaire who seemed to look for her every single break time. He annoyed her! He really did. Why didn't he just let her out of Les Amis? What was she of good to them?! She was not a companion, she was a charity case! She was just like the other kids whom they'd had to help in the past!

She leaned against her locker, her eyes scanning the ceiling. 'What have you gotten yourself into, Éponine?' she scolded herself. She sighed and tried to think happy thoughts. Tomorrow she would get paid at the diner. Yes, that really was good news. She'd get to fill the emptying envelopes hidden in her closet. She'd get some extra food to hide as well. Yes, happy thoughts. Her eyes widened as the happiest of them all came through. Working with Marius!

'Of course.' she thought bitterly 'Grantaire's here as well'

As if he didn't realise she was angry with him, the said boy walked towards her, and put an arm around her shoulders. She sighed deeply at his actions, but she didn't find the strength to push him off. If she did, she was sure to do so much more. Like kick him in the nuts or something.

'Happy thoughts.' she replied like a mantra in her head. 'Two more years.'

"Grantaire let's just get to work." Joly said when he closed the door. Surprisingly it was only them tonight. Enjolras and Courfeyrac were doing their own part of chores, as were Combeferre, Lesgles and the rest of Les Amis. No one really knew what Grantaire was doing, but Éponine thought it best not to ask him why he, a last year student, was hanging around them who still had to do two years. It was highly thinkable that neither Enjolras and Courfeyrac or Lesgles and Combeferre could stomach him today. Or he hadn't met up with them yet, or he had been chased away after a few of his pranks.

This thought brought a small smile to Éponine's lips.

"He'd just get in the way." Marius suddenly whispered into her ear as Grantaire walked over to annoy Joly a bit.

"What?" Éponine brought out, butterflies dancing in her stomach at his proximity.

"Enjolras and the rest." Marius cleared out. "They're performing the exact same duties as us at this moment, but they always put Grantaire on the 'Checking up on everybody' list."

"Why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, he's a really good and bright kid, but..." Marius felt silent. "A bit too loud, if you get what I mean."

"So, what you're saying is, they want him in the group, but they don't?"

"Not entirely." Marius said, smiling broadly. "We really want him along, but administration and Grantaire don't go together."

"So he's here to make this whole ordeal...fun?" Éponine guessed.

Marius pulled up his shoulders. "Who knows."

"Will you two lovebirds come and help out?" Joly asked, looking straight at the two, a mischievous smile tugging on his lips.

Éponine immediately blushed while Marius just laughed and walked up to him. Trying to compose herself Éponine did the same.

'Stay cool 'Ponine!' she scolded herself. It was not like she was a child anymore.

"You sure we got all the names?" Joly asked rather sceptically.

"Like I said, we do." Éponine said, throwing a quick glance at her watch. After Anne had walked in they'd been paired up, and she got into a team with Joly, which earned her a worried glance from Anne. Like she was going to steal her beloved...the girl should know better.

"If you say so..." Joly wondered out loud.

"Look Joly, don't sweat it. All the names are there." Éponine said, putting her hands on her hips. "I've been to this class, getting everyone's names."

"Sure there were no students absent. I thought I remembered there to be more students in this particular class."

"Look Joly, it's not such a big deal if we miss someone. The teacher is going to do a final check when everyone's gathered. He'll tell us if we missed someone or when we've gotten a name wrong."

Joly looked doubtful at the names on the list. "If you say so."

"Why do we even have to bother making these lists ourselves?" Éponine asked, looking over the list Joly was still holding on to. "Couldn't we just ask the teachers for them? They have attendancy lists of their own, right?"

"We could." Joly replied "But wouldn't it be annoying if you knew your data was so easily given to a group of students? In our way we asked them beforehand if they wanted to give us their names."

"Then it doesn't make any sense you worry about not having a name or two." Éponine brought in.

"That's not true. It could point out a problem." Joly replied, tucking the list into his bag.

Éponine raised an eyebrow at this. "Such as?"

"A lack of faith."

"Still not following you." Éponine said as the brown haired boy straightened.

"If you introduce yourself as a council of sorts to the people whom you're supposed to help, and they're too weary of you to give them their names, it could point out a lack of faith. And we, as a group of students appointed to come to their aid, shouldn't leave it at that. They all have the right to call upon us when the need arises, but for them to do so, they must trust us."

Éponine looked somewhat unsatisfied. "So, what if you notice someone hasn't put up his name?" she asked. "You just barge into the classroom where the said person is demanding an explanation?"

Joly chuckled at this. "Now what good would that do? Don't you know the saying of The Wind Runs When Chased?"

Éponine tilted her head. She didn't know that one.

"It's useless dealing with something delicate in a brutal way. We go to see the person in question yes, but we do so in a way that they're allowed to be comfortable. If they really do not want the option of calling upon us in times of need, we'll let it pass. But we need to be sure they're aware of the possible consequences."

"I see." Éponine mumbled. Though they were all rich boys they sure had put a lot of thought into this. "Do you need to talk to students often?"

Joly seemed to think back. "I think we needed to do so two to three times."

"And?"

"Well, normally we sent either Enjolras or Courfeyrac to go talk to them, but Grantaire always tags along, and in the end, it's he who gets the student to drop the barriers and talk about the exact reason why they didn't want their help in the beginning."

"So Grantaire is of use." Éponine muttered bitterly under her breath, remembering how he had acted with the document she'd signed.

Joly smiled down at her. "He may look extremely annoying, but he has a good heart, and a fairly good brain."

Éponine allowed herself a smile. She'd seen Joly annoyed with the brown haired guy before, but it looked like they all seemed to have a certain respect for the lad. She couldn't even begin to try to respect him though. To her he was just an annoying brat who kept her extra occupied.

"Say Joly, I know I'm supposed to help you until the end, but I'm..."

"Tight on schedule?" he filled in with a smile. "I understand, I'll take care of the rest."

"Thanks Joly you're a lifesaver." Éponine said with a happy smile before she dashed out of the room.

"Weren't you with Éponine?" Prouvaire asked as Joly met up with him and Anne in the hallway.

"She left." Joly replied, coming to walk next to his friend.

"Again?" Prouvaire asked as they ascended the last stairs leading to the classroom.

Anne frowned at this. She really liked Joly, but whenever she was in the same room with him it seemed like he didn't even notice her. Instead he went on about Éponine with Prouvaire. She started wondering whether or not she should even bother trying to get his attention. She sighed, trying to shake it off. She knew Éponine was only interested in Marius, so she shouldn't get jealous because of the attention she'd gotten herself. She was pulled from her reveries as she heard the conversation between the two friends go on.

"Did you get all the information?"

"Yeah I did." Joly replied to Prouvaire's question. "Though I'm not sure why Grantaire wanted it in the first place."

"Well, it doesn't seem like anyone's going to be able to figure out the way Grantaire thinks." Prouvaire said, a smile tugging at his lips.

They burst out laughing at this.

"What's so funny?" the said guy asked as the two boys entered the classroom.

Prouvaire wiped away some stray tears and shook his head. "Nothing my dear friend. Nothing."

Graintaire pulled up an inquisitive eyebrow, but let go of it. "Joly, have you lost our beloved female friend along the road?"

"Well, she was in a hurry, so I offered to wrap things up."

"How nice of you." Grantaire noted, standing up from the sofa, and walking over to her.

"Do you have what I asked for?"

"Yeah." Joly replied, opening his bag and retrieving a sheet of paper. "Though I'm not sure what you need it for."

"Secret, my friend." was the only thing he said before strolling off again, leaving Joly and Prouvaire a bit confused.

After work Éponine rode back home, but what she met made her heart sink. There were five cars parked close to her house. That meant her fathers' 'gang' was present. As silently as she could she parked her bike against the outer wall of the house, praying that her siblings had been able to dash for their room. She quickly walked towards the front door and looked through the glass. Though it was old and wasn't as regularly washed as Azelma wanted, she did see the group of men sitting in the living room, all bent over a chart. This couldn't be good. She had to pass them to get to her room, but she realised well enough that would be impossible without being seen. How would she get through them?

Her stomach rumbled and she cursed herself for being hungry at a moment as this. She needed to be as silent as a mouse, even quieter if she could, but now her stomach started rumbling. It's not like she hadn't noticed she was getting hungry before, but she was working and just tried not to think about it, but now she cursed herself for letting it get so far. It could get her in trouble after all.

Taking a deep breath she walked in, got out of her jacket and carried it nonchalantly in her arms as she strolled in.

She nearly got to the stairs when a voice called to her.

"Bonsoir 'Ponine."

She resisted the urge to lash out. "Bonsoir Montparnasse."

"Where are you off to so quickly?" he asked, getting the attention of her father and his friends.

"It's been a long day, so I'm going to grab some Z's." she said, taking the first few steps of the stairs.

"Then why don't I come along?" he offered, grabbing her by her wrist, a sick smile on his face. "I'm sort of tired myself."

"Then go home." she said with a brave smile.

"'Ponine, don't talk to 'im that way!" her father snapped at her.

Though she wanted nothing more than to make a snarky remark, she knew that that was not in her best interest. Instead, she kept quiet as her dark eyes snapped from her father and his companions to Montparnasse who still grinned at her like no tomorrow.

"I'm sorry Montparnasse, not today." she said before pulling her arm out of his grasp, quickly ascending the stairs. She could still hear his remark though.

"Must be on her period."

"Damn that man!" she cursed as she threw the door locked.

Azelma and Gavroche looked up from their work. Gavroche was working on his Math schoolwork while Azelma was clearly stitching up the torn jeans of one of the youngest. From everyone in their family she was by far the most handy one. She'd sew a perfect cocktail dress with that old sewing machine of hers if she had the fabrics, but instead she kept repairing their old clothes as good as she could, even trying to make some new garments from old ones. She'd once made a cool skirt for Éponine from old shorts, just using some leftover cloth and her machine. Éponine loved that skirt, but skirts made her feel vulnerable, so she practically never wore it.

"Are they still there?" Azelma asked as she continued her work.

"Yeah. How long have they been here?" Éponine asked as she sat down next to Gavroche.

"A few hours. Guess they're up to no good."

"Stealing again?" Éponine questioned. "They're really going to get us all into trouble!" She cursed under her breath.

"Papa's not going to let him get caught so easily." Gavroche spoke, wiping out a wrong answer and writing down what he thought was the right one.

"Let's just hope so. The last thing we need is more trouble."

"Which reminds me." Azelma said, looking up from her spot on the floor. "You'll get paid tomorrow right?"

Éponine nodded. "Yeah. Why? Did something come up?"

"Sort of." Azelma replied "We need some new clothes for the youngest, he's gotten a growth spurt."

"You've got to be kidding." Gavroche said. "Again?!"

Azelma nodded with a sad smile. "There are limits to what I can make of old jeans."

"Don't we have any clothes left from Gavroche?" Éponine tried, but Azelma shook her head immediately.

"No, we have not."

The two brown haired siblings sighed deeply. There was no other choice, once more it was 'pay up time'.

"Well it shouldn't matter too much." Gavroche said after a thick silence. "Saturday's my first day on my new job, I'll be able to bring in some extra cash."

Éponine, albeit reluctantly, nodded. "Yeah, luckily."

Translation Notes.

Bonsoir: Good Evening

_Hey everyone! I hope you liked the chapter! As I said in the last chapter I don't really have a set out plan for this story, well I do have a plot which I really, really, really want to write, but I just go with the flow actually, so I have no idea how everything will turn out myself. Anyway I hope you've enjoyed reading my story so far, and I'll try to update as soon, and as regularly as I can. ^^_


	5. Chapitre Cinq

_Hey you all! I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, especially the sole reviewer of the last chapter. It was so good to know someone wanted to know how it continues._

_Further I want to warn you guys that the French I speak is the one used in Belgium. So it's slightly -or a hell lot- different from the real French. Also I want to warn you that the French you're going to see are not the most polite of phrases you find out there. ^^" Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you continue to follow Eponine throughout her ordeals! XD_

_And with no further ado, here's the chapter! XD_

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.

Concrete Angel

Chapitre Cinq.

"Hey Éponine." Anne said as the dark haired girl walked into the classroom.

"Hey Anne, haven't seen you around all day." Éponine noted, sinking into the chair next to her friend.

"Well I have been quite busy." the girl replied as she scribbled down some more.

"What are you doing?" Éponine questioned, leaning on her elbow as she bent over to see more of what the girl was doing.

"Laying the last hand to our hard work."

"Work?" Éponine asked, leaning back into the chair. She couldn't cope with hearing the word 'work' again. For three weeks had she been coping with home, work, schoolwork and Les Amis, but slowly it was beginning to take its toll on her. A better thing was though, that her father had yet to get a chance to beat her up. The last time he'd gotten the chance to do so was on the last friday. Luckily the bruises that had formed on her arms were easily to conceal, though she'd nearly given away that she was in pain when Courfeyrac bumped into her. She'd let out a cry and to say he was shocked was an understatement. He'd asked her over a hundred times if she was alright, something Grantaire had a field day with. Even now Courfeyrac had to suffer from it, for Grantaire would still bump into him, after which he fell dramatically to the ground, feigning grave pain. Luckily Courfeyrac would only get annoyed over Grantaire's behaviour, and he wouldn't ask Éponine why she was in pain, still fearing it was his fault. No student or even teacher would look back to Grantaire though, and even Joly, who seemed to panic over the smallest sign of a disease or a wound, didn't seem to care. At one moment he'd even stepped over him to get to his class. Enjolras had seemingly found a good way to get rid of his antics, though he wouldn't talk about it with the others, and it was clear how much Grantaire wanted to keep it that way. It intrigued Éponine to no ends as to what it may be. What was there that Grantaire didn't want them to know?

"Yeah, the class registers?" Anne asked, getting Éponine from her thoughts. "You helped out with them?"

Éponine's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah." she replied. "Is it finally done?"

"Well..." Anne's voice failed. "There is this little problem we still need to fix."

"Problem?" Éponine asked, but at the moment Anne was about to reply some of the boys walked in.

"Hey Éponine, Anne." Combeferre greeted, followed by Joly and Marius.

The butterfly's in Éponine's stomach did the strangest of jumps in her stomach as the last walked in. From the moment they'd been acquainted her stomach had done this. He had been so kind back in the day, and now as well. She hoped though, that he would notice how she would blush from time to time when he said something nice to her. He never did though, and she felt her heart sink as she thought about it.

'Like he'd ever notice me.' her mind sneered and she willed the thought to the back of her head, realising her father's harsh words were getting to her. Something she'd promised herself not to.

"Glad to see everyone's here." Enjolras said, his dark eyes going over all of his friends. "Thanks to your hard work we've finally gotten ready for the year. Every student is now well informed of our intentions, as well as how to call for us." he looked around at everyone seated at the table, and then noticed Anne putting up her hand shyly.

"What is it, Anne?" Enjolras asked.

"Well, there was this student who asked for a meeting with us."

"Trouble?" he asked, frowning.

Anne shook her head. "No, but I'm afraid it's not going to take long."

"Who is it?" Feuilly asked from the other side of the table.

Anne went through her papers. "Montparnasse."

"Oh, he's in my History class." Combeferre said.

"Really?" Grantaire asked.

"If you'd actually pay attention you'd have noticed." Combeferre said, looking straight at the boy.

"So, you say he's going to be trouble?" Marius asked.

Anne nodded. "He's gotten himself into trouble quite a few times already."

"I see." Enjolras said, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms in front of his chest. "We'll have to discuss that with him then."

"Yes, but..." Anne said, looking down at her hands.

"But?" Courfeyrac who sat next to her urged her on.

"He's requested an audience with someone specific. I find it a bit strange."

"Who?" Courfeyrac asked.

"Éponine." Anne replied looking at her friend.

It didn't go unnoticed that Éponine's face had gone pale from the moment the name had been mentioned, nor that she seemed to clam up when Anne said those last words.

"Something wrong, Éponine?" Enjolras asked, arms unfolding.

"No, I'm fine." Éponine said, unconsciously smiling a weak, fragile smile.

"You don't look like you're fine." Joly commented from his seat. "Are you having a fever?"

"I'm fine Joly. It's just weird that he'd ask for me."

"Why is that?" Prouvaire asked.

"It's a long story."

"We have time." Grantaire spoke, looking at her with an excited grin.

Éponine glared at him. "It's personal."

"Your ex-boyfriend?" he tried.

"Grantaire." Enjolras warned as Éponine seemed ready to throw a fit. "Leave her alone."

"Well, what do we do about this?" Combeferre asked. "We know how he is, we shouldn't let him get an audience with anyone if he wants it on his terms. That's not how we work."

Enjolras looked around to each of his friends.

"I'm with Combeferre on this one." Feuilly said. Joly nodded, just like Prouvaire, Marius, Lesgles and Courfeyrac.

"I'll go with you!" Grantaire said, standing up jovially and bowing. "I'll be by your side through this whole ordeal with your ex-boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Éponine exclaimed, rising from her seat and glaring hard at Grantaire who seemed taken aback for but a second. An evil grin appeared onto his face though. "Whatever you want love." He winked.

"Argh! I'm off." Éponine said, no longer able to take Grantaire's teasing.

Enjolras just sighed. By now everyone was well aware how Éponine's anger could flare, and how Grantaire seemed to be perfectly able to push all her buttons.

"See you tomorrow!" Grantaire said, waving at her from his seat as she dashed out of the room.

It turned silent for a while until Feuilly spoke up. "Does anyone know what she does after school?"

Once again a short silence enveloped them.

"Didn't she mention a part-time job once?" Prouvaire asked Marius who pulled up his shoulders.

"Possible."

"Then I say we try to find out!" Grantaire said, once more standing, smiling broadly.

"No, we should respect her privacy." Enjolras spoke, not moving from his spot.

"Oh, come on! You want to know as much as we do." Grantaire urged, unafraid of Enjolras' anger.

He looked around, and to his annoyance he found the rest of the group looking like they'd join Grantaire's cause over his this time.

Sighing he gave in: "Alright. But don't you dare annoy her at her job." he warned. The smiles on the boys' faces only grew. Finally, after knowing Éponine for three weeks they would know where she rushed to after school. To say that they couldn't wait was an understatement.

Éponine was still annoyed when she arrived at the diner. When she walked in though, she was met with a terrible sight. Chairs were lying all around, tables were toppled over and broken plates lay around everywhere.

"Madame Toulouse?" she called.

"Who's there?!" she heard the said woman call from where she was hidden behind the counter.

"Madame Toulouse?" Éponine called again, running over to the sound of the older lady. "Are you alright?"

The older lady just looked up at her. "I'm fine." she replied, but the sad smile she showed Éponine told the younger girl that she was everything but alright.

After she'd gotten the woman to sit down on a chair she'd put back in its place Éponine made her some coffee.

"What happened?" Éponine asked, though she didn't really need to ask. It was clear what had happened.

"There were four of them." the older lady began her explanation. "Before I knew what was going on they were making a mess of things, and yelled at me to get them all the money I had."

"Did you give them?"

"Of course I did child!" the lady snapped at the brunette. "What else could I have done?"

"Weren't Monsieur Toulouse and Madame Thiry here?"

Madame Toulouse choked on her sobs. "Of course they were, but they too were taken aback. Gods child, it's clear you weren't here when it happened!"

Éponine remained silent at that. How was she to tell the old lady in front of her she knew well enough what it was like to be so afraid you thought you were going to die. She went through it daily after all.

"Where are Monsieur Toulouse and Madame Thiry now?"

"To the police station for questioning."

"Questioning?" Éponine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, they need thei alibi's and whatever information they can give of the thieves."

"I see." Éponine said, standing up from her crouched position. "Are we allowed to clean up?" she then asked the older woman.

"Yes, they were done with their work here, they said."

Éponine nodded. "Then I guess it's better if we clean up this mess as quickly as possible." she stated, pulling off her hat and messenger bag.

"You're a lifesaver Éponine." the lady said as she smiled weakly at the teen.

"We got ourselves some great stuff." Éponine heard her father say as she entered the house. As she'd guessed, her father was behind it after all. Somehow she had hoped she'd been wrong, but the number of people Madame Toulouse said was clear enough a sign to her. Her fists clenched. Not only did the idiot of her father get them all into serious trouble, he also got in the way of them earning their money! She gritted her teeth and prayed that her siblings were all up and safe behind the barricaded door, for she was sure this time she was going to peter un plon.

Walking towards the kitchen with too much force she immediately got herself the attention she'd normally try to avoid. Her father with his bald head looked up at her, his yellow teeth visible because of the big smile on his face.

"Word goes it was you who broke into the Diner." she started, standing akimbo.

Her father's smile disappeared and he regarded her through angry eyes. He stood from his seat and walked over to her. Éponine barely straightened, still glaring at the man.

"Who said that?" he asked, all hints of amusement gone.

"So it is true." she shot back.

"Who said that?!" he asked, threateningly hovering over her.

"No one espèce de con!" she snapped. "But it's rather obvious to your own children!"

His interest seemed to have faded, not even bothering to lash out at her for insulting him. "Oh is that all?" he said, sauntering back to the sofa on which he'd been seated earlier.

Éponine shook with rage. "Isn't it enough that you've gotten us into this much trouble?"

He looked over his shoulder at his trembling daughter.

She looked back up at him, dark eyes flaming. "Do you really need to get us into an even bigger mess?! Is that really necessary?!"

"What do you know hussy?" he sneered. "You waltz in at late hours, pretending you own the place..."

"I practically do!" Éponine yelled, no longer able to keep in her anger. "And I don't just waltz in! I come home after working, going to school and working again! Just to pay all the debts you've created with your drinking and gambling!"

"You shut your mouth." he grumbled, turning to her.

If she hadn't been on a roll already, Éponine would've understood that she was crossing the line, but the desperate and scared face of Madame Toulouse was still fresh in her memory, and it angered her beyond her limits. At this point in time she couldn't even care less for her father's violent tendencies. As long as her siblings were safe upside, and smart enough not to come down, she couldn't care less. Everything bothered her. It all formed a knot in her stomach, and keeping all those feelings in was tiring.

"No." she replied, ticking him off, yet not stirring a foot nor showing any sign of fear in front of the man. She hated him. She loathed him with every fibre of her being and she somehow wanted to see him suffer like they had to suffer each and every day. And she wanted to see him in an equal amount of fear as Madame Toulouse had been. Her rage was flaming hot as he got close.

"You'll rue this night." he growled at her, yet she did not flinch. Anger boiled beneath her skin, and she would be damned to show the idiot fear.

Before she knew what was coming her way she slammed into the wall, a stinging sensation on her left cheek and a warm liquid made its way down from her lip. Her glare did not waver as she defiantly looked up at her father, whose head now resembled a balloon about to pop.

"Apologise." he growled, but Éponine just shook her head. The image of Madame Toulouse kept coming up in her mind and with it, anger surged through her veins.

Another hit, her head flying to her right side once more, more blood flowing from her lip. She didn't dare to look at him. She knew this was going down the wrong direction yet could do nothing more to stop it. The annoyance, anger and hate had built up for too long, and Madame Toulouse's devastated look was what pushed her over the edge.

"Apologise." she heard her father sneer at her as he grabbed her by the collar, pushing her against the wall.

She didn't reply. She didn't have to. Anything she did now was going to end up hurting her more, and the truth was, she didn't care. She felt terrible for Madame Toulouse, and worse, she felt responsible. How in the world was she responsible for what her father and his friends did? How warped could her thoughts be for her to come to that conclusion?! She had nothing to do with it, and the core of all her problems stood right in front of her with a raised fist.

A few more slaps later -she didn't keep count- she crumbled to the floor. Her eyes looked through the locks of hair that had fallen in front of her face up at her father. He still looked angrier than she'd ever seen him, but she didn't care. The pain was dulling all of her other senses, and she knew what would be coming. He would kick her in the gut until she threw up, like he always did.

She moaned as he pulled her up by her hair.

"I told you you'd rue this night." he whispered, venom lacing his sick baritone voice.

She resisted the urge to speak. Her lips were swollen from the hits she'd taken, and her jaw hurt like hell, still, she would not show any weakness. She couldn't. Like an animal he smelled fear.

A kick. Another one, and another.

She cried out with every one of them that hit their mark, yet he didn't seem satisfied. Her anger had disappeared quickly after a few well placed punches and kicks, but there was a look in her father's eyes she'd never seen before. It looked like...fear? But how could he be afraid when he was the one beating her up? She dared to look up at him, unaware that her dark eyes held a sort of anger in them, and a knowing that freaked her father out. It was like her eyes were urging him to go further. Daring him to hurt her more.

It annoyed and scared him. This hussy laying on the floor, bleeding and squirming in agony dared to deny his dominance with just a look in her eyes! It wasn't there at the beginning. It became apparent after this night. It was like a lioness had been awakened from her slumber, finding her children hurt by a hyena.

Another kick, another time pulling her up by her hair and slamming her into the wall. She choked. A sick smile creeping onto his face, which fell as she looked up at him once more, barely able to keep herself steady on her feet. She swaggered dangerously, yet she dared look up at him like that?!

Grumbling he threw her to the ground.

'One more kick ought to do the trick.' he thought, regarding her wearily. If he didn't extinguish this flame that had somehow built inside of her, he'd be the devil of it.

Éponine cried out in agony as he fists made their last impact on her lower back. It was one of the most painful places to be hit, and it had only been in school that she'd come to know why.

'My kidneys.' she thought, hoping they wouldn't give out on her. She needed at least one of them to keep on living.

Her fathers back was turned to her as he took out his cell phone. "Montparnasse..." she heard him say, and her eyes widened slightly.

"You know the thing your son asked of me..."

She could only listen while trying to lay completely silent.

"...Let's see it as part of my debt repaid to you..."

Everything hurt and her vision was blurry.

"...I've made my mind up. You can have her when the time comes."

Éponine's eyes widened. 'Montparnasse?' she thought, a fear taking control over her 'Debt?' She shook in terror. Somehow, she was sure she did not want to know what her father was talking about. Somehow she was very aware of something terrible coming her way. And the worst thing was, it was her own damned fault!

Translator Notes

Peter un plon: To throw a fit.

Espèce de con: You stupid fool. (sounds nastier in French)

_Okay that was it for chapter Five! Can't believe we're already halfway to double digits! ^^" I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I hope I can welcome you at the next one as well! XD Please R&R, though it's entirely up to you guys. ^^_


	6. Chapitre Six

_Hey you guys! I want to thank you all for your reviews! I was so happy to see people are enjoying the story! XD For the Guests who reviewed I thank you via this AN for I cannot send you a PM. ^^" But seriously I thank you all for your reviews, they really warm my heart._

_Some reviewers said it was kinda scary last time, and I'm afraid more of them are going to come to pass, but never fear Les Amis will step in at some point! XD_

_Does anyone of you have the problem with typing Enjolras? I always find myself wanting to type Legolas! ^^" "Wrong book, wrong movie" I tell myself then. XD_

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.

Concrete Angel

Chapitre Six.

Her fathers footsteps echoed in her confused mind as Éponine lay on the dirty ground of the living room. The bald man was just strolling away as if nothing had happened and she cursed mentally for her lack of self-control. Normally she wouldn't let even her gravest of anger fits get the better of her, but she felt as if a special fire had been lit within her that night. She still felt it burning as her tired eyes followed her father until he disappeared upstairs where he loudly trudged to his bedroom. Only after she'd heard him fall onto his bed did she dare to try and sit up. Everything hurt and every muscle protested. Her lips, cheeks, belly, back and legs were severely bruised, and she could taste the metallic taste that came from the blood leaking from her burst lips. Flinching she pushed herself up into a sitting position. Everything hurt and she bit her lip not to whimper. She wouldn't let her father hear her silent cries. She leaned against the wall, trying to forget the pain that went through her when she did so, and trying to stop the shivering which always came after her father hit her. She hated herself for that. Wasn't she a tough girl? Wasn't she supposed to be used to it by now? Then why did her body still act as if it was something unusual while her mind cursed the normalcy of it all? Éponine looked up at the dirty ceiling, trying to fight back the tears that stung mercilessly behind her eyes. She wouldn't cry.

'Two more years.'

The thought was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing for the time she had to spend in the Thénardier house was shortening, but a curse for it made her feel somewhat hopeful. What if she didn't make it like she said she would? Perhaps her father's treatment wasn't all t hat different from other families? She mentally shook her head at this. No. It wasn't normal. The way he was acting was over every limit, and she shouldn't even be doubting whether or not it was correct, for it wasn't.

She heard the clock tick on. Second after second passed by and Éponine wondered what time it was, how long she'd been beaten up and how long she'd been sitting there without the courage or strength to move from her miserable spot.

From the distance her ears picked up a blessed sound. Silent, swift footsteps. And luckily only one pair at that.

"Éponine?"

That voice was blessed!

"A...Zelma." she managed to whisper through her burst lips and swollen cheeks.

"Mon Dieu Éponine." Azelma said, quickly making her way over to her older sister and kneeling beside her. "What has he done?" she whimpered, gently pushing Éponine's hair from her eyes and looking at her face.

"It's not so bad." Éponine managed to say in a weak whisper.

"Not so bad?" Azelma echoed, eyes filling with tears and her voice high. "'Ponine...you're bleeding. You look like a ghost, so pale you are!"

"Don't wake the fool." Éponine grumbled weakly, trying to shift her weight but finding that pain surged through her like wildfire.

"Don't move yet." her sister said in a fearful whisper. "I'll get you some painkillers. Just... Don't move."

"No problem." Éponine managed to say. Her sarcasm didn't seem lost under even the most trying of circumstances and she found herself smiling at it. Something she regretted almost immediately as her whole face burned with pain.

"Here." Azelma said quickly handing her a glass.

Éponine's fingers didn't seem to have the proper strength to hold it up though, and Azelma quickly grabbed hold of it and tilted it upwards so that her sister could take some hesitant gulps.

Pain went through her even as she did something as simple as that. Her jaw clenched painfully and the bruises on her back were constantly pressed against the wall. If she didn't move an inch, she found it bearable, but from the moment she had to shift even the slightest bit, it was like a knife was going through her. Mentally she counted herself lucky her father had yet to come up with that idea. She'd be sure to get herself and her siblings out of there before that happened though.

The fire she'd noticed from the moment she'd seen her father smiling to himself, happy with the money he'd earned himself had not diminished, and she found herself looking up at the stairs, a fire burning in her eyes.

"'Ponine?" her sister asked, the look in her eyes not lost on her. "What are you thinking of?"

Éponine turned her blazing, yet tired eyes to her younger sister, who seemed to be extremely bad at ease.

"Nothing 'Zelma." she whispered. "Just. How am I going to get upstairs?" A weak smile crept onto her face and Éponine cursed herself for smiling, it only made her face feel even more bruised.

"Do not worry 'Ponine. I'll help you."

"The kids?" Éponine spoke weakly, trying not to show her sister just how bad she felt at the moment.

"They're upstairs. Gavroche read to the youngest to get them to sleep before you even got home, so they didn't even hear what happened afterwards."

"How's Gavroche taking it?" Éponine asked as her sister helped her up onto her feet, something which hurt like hell, and once more Éponine found her eyes attracted to the stairs and the man who was sleeping there in his cosy bed.

Azelma regarded her sister somewhat scared. She was used to seeing her sister take a beating, she was stubborn after all, but she'd never seen the hate glow so apparent in her eyes, yet she could not turn away from the sight. It was as if her sister was turning into something else. As if things were changing, and she couldn't help but fear what was coming for them. If Éponine did get rebellious there would be a price to pay, and knowing their father, it wasn't going to be fun. On the contrary, she had heard when her father had taken out his cell phone, calling Montparnasse Senior, and she dreaded what was going to happen to her older sister who so selflessly protected them from her father's harsh, cutting words and his hitting fists and kicking legs. Even if he was unsteady on his feet because of the drinking he'd probably done, he still could throw a rather nasty punch. She had only lived through it once, and it was only one hit, for her sister had placed herself in-between her and their father, so she knew it hurt a lot. More than she could cope with.

Her eyes once more travelled to her sister who limbed next to her, her arm draped around Azelma's shoulders for support. Where and how her sister found the strength to not only put up with it for so many an occasion, but also stepping in for her and the boys...she could only have respect for her dark haired sister, and quietly she hoped that the flame she'd spotted in her sisters eyes would die out before it got her into too much trouble.

"What are you going to do about school tomorrow?" she asked, trying not to look at her sister.

"I'll just go. I have the paper delivery to do as well."

"Are you kidding? Have you seen your bruises?"

"No" Éponine smiled weakly "I have not."

"Listen to me 'Ponine, there is no way you'll be able to walk properly tomorrow. Just give it a rest, we'll write a note to school as well."

"'Zelma." Éponine spoke up in a tired, yet dominant voice "We don't have the luxury to stay home. I'll get through it. I promise."

But that promise, Éponine realised, was going to be hard to keep. It was late after midnight and they still had to take care of her injuries. There would be no time for her to get a lot of sleep, and she had to take on her classes."

"I'll take your paper deliveries as well." Gavroche announced as the two girls arrived in their shared bedroom.

"Gavroche, no, I'll be perfectly able to, ugh!" Éponine grumbled as she stiffly sat down on the bed.

"There's no way you'll be able to work like this!" Azelma said. "Gavroche, please take over her rounds, I'll see if I can take over your shift in the Diner."

"No, you cannot do that!" Éponine protested, taking off her shirt with Azelma's help. "It'll be too obvious. She's just been robbed and then I do not show up? The police will be standing at our front door before we know it that way."

Azelma and Gavroche turned silent. Their shared worst fear was to be separated from each other, and that was the precise reason why they'd kept everything silent for all those years, all the while knowing something had to be done to their parents' acting.

"If you feel up to it Gavroche, then please, take over my round in the morning, but I am going to show up for school and work afterwards, alright?"

The two younger siblings exchanged glances and then nodded silently as their older sister took the decision.

"We're in this together." Éponine started. "We'll see it through together."

A small smile crept up the faces of her siblings. It was but a small ray, but it was a ray of hope alright. They knew of Éponine's wish to get them all away and under her care, but they were being realistic and two years was still a long time, not to mention that the troubles weren't over then. After that, they'd have to cope with their parents' bad mood and probably with some excessive blackmailing from their part.

"Yes." Azelma suddenly said in her small voice "We'll get through this together."

The alarm clock went off too soon for Éponine's comfort. Azelma had only dared to go down and fetch her sister way past twelve o'clock in the evening. After that they'd had a lot of work just tending to the immense bruises the older Thénardier sister had suffered. By the time they'd been ready to treat them they were already turning a sickly purple, and putting some ointment on them had been hell for Éponine. Not only that, but Éponine had refused to take any more meds to ease her pain, telling them they were short on them as it was.

The dark haired girl grumbled as she slowly turned onto her bruised side to put off the damned machine, hoping her father wouldn't hear any kind of noise. He was certainly not a morning person, and she didn't need an extra beating to start off the day. Apparently he hadn't heard.

'Small favours.' Éponine thought annoyed as she struggled to sit up. Her whole skin felt like it was too small for her body, and her muscles protested heavily with every little move she wished them to make. She felt groggy, sleepy and sore all over, but she knew she had no choice. She couldn't stay home, for her father would somehow get it into his sick mind to enter her room and have one more round of beating her up. She'd noticed once that he liked it especially when he could aim for certain spots, and if she had to take a guess, he didn't need a lot of aiming to do. It felt like there were bruises everywhere.

"'Ponine?" Azelma's soft voice spoke up, and Éponine could hear her sister walk over to her bend over form.

She leaned heavily on her elbows, face in hands as she tried to gather all the courage she could muster. Tears stung behind her eyelids, but she refused to let it take over. She felt sick with every move and wanted nothing more than to vomit. Éponine raised her head and regarded her sister.

"How does it look?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

Azelma regarded her sister through sad eyes. "Well..." she started, regarding her sister's swollen face. "It's not blue..." she tried to lighten the mood with a small smile.

A sad smile and a humourless chuckle escaped the dark haired girl. "Ironic to say, but that really is a relief."

Azelma tried to stay strong. She tried her best not to let the tears which stung behind her eyes to get their way. She had to stay strong for her brave sister who looked so broken and tired, and whose body would take a lot of time to fully recover. Her face may not be blue, but her sisters tank top didn't conceal much, and the various bruises were a deep purple and looked horrible. If anyone was to see them...

"I'll get you some clothes." she spoke, walking over to the closet.

"Thanks." Éponine mumbled, not yet ready to pick herself up from her spot. "Where's Gavroche?"

"He left early." Azelma said, picking out a T-shirt and a long sleeved shirt. "He's got an extra round after all."

Éponine looked at the ground. She felt terrible for it. Now her younger brother had to work extra just because she'd been so...so...yeah, what had she been? Angry? Enraged? Stubborn? Maybe it was all her fault that they were now in this situation. That she sat on the edge of her bed covered in bruises and a lip which seemed to start to heal itself.

'Nature's wonders.' she thought with a small smile though she did not feel amused at all. Mother nature seemed ready for anything that came her way, and Éponine thought just how much it resembled her. No matter what had happened in the past, she'd always gotten through one way or another. Another weak chuckle, making Azelma look at her, clothes in hands.

"'Ponine...you better get up." she gently urged her sister, unsure whether or not to help her to her feet. How could she? The bruises were everywhere. How was she supposed to help her sister if she couldn't afford to touch her, lest she hurt her sister more?

"Yeah." Éponine said tiredly, pushing herself up from the bed and heading towards the small bathroom adjacent to their room. Once upon a time, when the world was a better place, it had been installed for her and Azelma. A girly bathroom, her mother had told them, just for them. Now the memory brought a bitter smile up onto her face, especially as she walked over to the mirror and saw her beaten up figure returning her gaze.

Despair overcame her as she regarded herself. The creature looking back at her was in every possible way beaten. Not only her body, but her mind was bloodied and bruised as well, and she realised this so much that it made her grit her teeth, trying to get herself angry again so that she wouldn't fall into the pit of self-pity or despair. She couldn't afford to fall into that endless pit. She somehow had to keep herself going, no matter how hard it may be. Her father, le conard could not be amused with her agony. She would under no circumstance show him any form of weakness or fear. If she did, it would be the death of her.

Silently Azelma passed her the ointment they had put onto it the day before, and evenly silent did Éponine start to put it onto the affected areas. She needed help when she had to treat her back though. Her shoulderblades had been hit as well, and there was no way she could reach them.

"It looks like he got your knee." Azelma said in a hushed tone.

Éponine looked down to where she was watching, and sure enough, her knee was blue and swollen. It explained why she couldn't stand steadily on her right leg.

"Looks like it." Éponine remarked, bending over slowly to put some ointment on her knee as well.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?" Azelma asked as her sister put on some make-up to cover up her swollen face. Though she didn't like it in the slightest, make-up really did the trick. No one would notice unless they both knew her really well, and regarded her closely.

Somehow Enjolras' face popped up as she thought about this, and she found herself believing that he, with his dark gaze, probably wouldn't miss it. She shook her head, albeit not too wildly, to get rid of the thought. She'd deal with it one way or another. If the need arose, she'd lie her way through. She'd done so once already, when a teacher was inquiring her about a bruise on her wrist which hadn't been totally covered by her shirt. She told her she fallen from her bike, and after half an hour of explaining the teacher finally let go of it.

Éponine remembered her walking home happily because of it, because of her getting away with getting hit at home. How strange the world was.

"If you're hurting too much please tell me." Azelma said as she sat on her own bike, regarding her sister wince as she herself mounted her bike.

"Don't worry 'Zelma." she spoke, trying to throw her sister an encouraging smile but which came out as a grimace. Everything hurt. Her getting seated on the saddle, her messenger bag hanging from her shoulder and over her abdomen and back, and even the stretching of her arms to grab the steer. Yet, she had decided to not show any pain or fear. "Let's go."

Azelma kept a good look on her sister as they advanced down the road. Soon it would go upwards and they would have trouble. On normal days they'd just get slightly out of breath for a minute or two, but she feared what it would be today. Sweat was already showing on her sisters face, and her eyes glowed from agony under her cap, yet her older sister didn't let out a moan or didn't wince at all. Once more Azelma felt her admiration for her sister grow as the older Thénardier kept on pedalling bravely.

They soon had to stop though, the road upwards was too heavy for her struck muscles and Éponine found herself catching her breath, all the while trying not to cry. She was stronger than this, she kept telling herself. But as she felt her jaw clench the pain hit her, and she felt miserable.

The pit of darkness, self-pity and agony kept glaring at her. So close it was. So close she was to falling into it. To falling prey for despair and a feast for mysery. It felt like the darkness was smiling down at her, a dark hand extended to her, encouraging her to give in. To give in to the sadness and the rage she felt.

Instead Éponine, being stubborn as she was, closed her eyes and bit down onto her already injured lip. She opened the wounds and tasted her blood. Her eyes filled with anger as she focussed her mind onto them.

It kept her from going insane, it kept her from giving up. It kept her from letting go of the small voice in her head that was hope.

'Two more years.' she repeated her mantra, getting onto her bike, and with the power not of an injured girl rode up the hill, a confident smile on her face as she pushed back her self-pity. The sun suddenly looked so clear. There was no way in hell she was going to give up. No way she was going to give in. No way she was going to fall into the pit of despair. She would live. She would see a tomorrow, a next week, a next month, a next year. She would go on. Her eyes went from the road up ahead to her sister. She would make it, not only for herself, but she would pull her siblings along with her. Towards a bright future.

'In two years.'

Translator notes.

Mon Dieu: My God.

Le Conard: The idiot (but harsher)

_I know it's all hard, but I really think it needs some extra explaining just how hard it is for the Thénardier siblings not to give into despair. I guess that goes for anyone who's facing tough times, but let's be honest, their situation is not a normal one, so it's normal for them to want to give in sometimes._

_I hope you enjoyed the chapter nevertheless of the angsty and depressing aspect and I really hope I can welcome you at the next chapter as well! XD Please leave a review if you thought it was good, or if you have some ideas. Who knows, perhaps it's the thing I'm looking for to make this story complete! ;-)_


	7. Chapitre Sept

_Hey everyone! I want to thank you all soooooo much for your kind reviews and for the first time since I started writing this fanfic I have an idea of where it's going! Woohoo! XD Anyway I really want to thank you all for reviewing! And of course I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter as well! XD_

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.

Concrete Angel

Chapitre Sept.

Though classes weren't to start for another two hours the classroom belonging to Les Amis was occupied by students. They all sat, gathered around the makeshift table of put together desks, watching their leader as he stood from his place, his dark eyes looking at each and every one of them. Some of them were well awake and ready to go, others were clearly still waking up, and then there were...

"Does anyone know where in the world Grantaire is?" Enjolras demanded to know as he glared at the empty seat.

"It's Grantaire...what do we know?" Courfeyrac said with a sad smile.

Enjolras sighed.

"I'm right here!" the said boy said with a huge grin on his face as he dramatically threw the door open and entered with the air of a king. "Sorry to make you wait." he added, smirking broadly as he sat down in his seat.

"Alright." Enjolras grumbled, clenching his fists as he tried to calm down. "Now that we're all gathered, I have something important to discuss."

"Not to disturb you, Enjolras, but we're not all here." Combeferre said.

"Yeah, where's Éponine?" Marius asked, looking at the empty chair next to Anne.

"I deliberately didn't tell her about this meeting." Enjolras spoke.

"Why not?" Feuilly spoke. "Aren't Les Amis open to each other?"

Enjolras smiled weakly at his brown haired friend. "Yes, of course, but it is something concerning her which I wish to discus."

"So she shouldn't be part of it?" Anne asked in a soft voice, regarding the leader from under her long eyelashes, not sure whether she was courageous enough to look the guy straight into the eyes. Somehow he still frightened her, even though she knew he was there for every student or person who needed his assistance.

"No." Enjolras replied, his voice clear and strong. "It's the matter with her and Montparnasse which I wish to discuss."

"So what of it?" Marius asked, not sure he was following what the raven haired guy wanted.

"I think we all saw her reaction to Monsieur Montparnasse's special request." Enjolras continued, looking straight at Marius, and then from him to the rest of the boys who each and every one of them nodded knowingly. They'd all seen her flinch for one reason or another, yet none of them had an idea as to why she would react in such a way.

"As you all know Montparnasse had asked for an audience with Éponine."

"Yes, but she didn't seem very keen to do it." Combeferre said.

"She looked rather bad at ease." Lesgles spoke in agreement with his friend seated next to him.

"Yes, I noticed as well." Enjolras said. "So, my question to you is, how do we deal with this situation? Do we agree with Montparnasse's terms? Or do we find another way to let him meet with Éponine?"

It felt silent for a minute until Prouvaire spoke up. "If a queen is to fight a monster from another land, it is usually a champion who goes in her name."

It made them all smile. Prouvaire was a poet in every possible way, but whenever he used it in normal situations, it was clear what he wanted to bring across. Not like some of his homages to female beauty...

"So, should we send someone in her stead?" Marius asked. "Do you think this Montparnasse will be satisfied with that?"

"He'll have to." Enjolras commented, sitting down and folding his arms in front of his chest. "We're there for his benefit after all. If he cannot understand we cannot simply abide by his every wish, then we cannot defend him well if the need arises."

"But then maybe he'll go after Éponine himself..." Anne suddenly spoke up. Her soft voice made the boys look at her immediately and she fidgeted with her handkerchief. Then she dared to look up, her eyes finding Joly's who just returned her gaze.

"We all know how he can be...The facts speak for themselves."

"Do you think he'd go to such lengths?" Courfeyrac asked, raising an eyebrow at Anne's remark.

"I do not know, but I do know that it is not a good idea not to take precautions. You are boys, you can all easily throw a good punch, but we as girls do not have many ways to defend ourselves."

Once more it turned silent.

"Then we shall accompany the queen." Grantaire spoke up, his greenish eyes sparkling with interest. "If we're there we can assess the situation, and intervene when this Montparnasse guy doesn't keep to the rules."

Enjolras nodded. He hadn't liked the way Éponine, the girl who hadn't batted an eyelash under his mental pressure, flinch at just the mentioning of this lad's name. The look of defiance in her dark eyes had been a kick to his gut, and he'd be damned to see her distressed.

"Then shouldn't it be a good idea to get a talk with him first?" Joly asked, glancing from Anne, who still seemed unconvinced, to Enjolras. "I mean, anyone of us can go through a first talk with him, check how he is."

"He will not speak to us. He'll demand we bring Éponine." Combeferre said.

"But that will work against him." Feuilly commented. "If he really is as bad as the rumours say he won't take an easy bait as that, for he knows we can turn away from helping a student, though that wouldn't be too good for our image."

Enjolras flinched at that comment. They were indeed allowed to turn away from a case, but he'd do anything in his power to prevent Les Amis from doing so. It would only bring the students to distrust them, and that was something they couldn't have.

"That makes it easy then!" Grantaire once more spoke up, a grin on his face. "Me and Enjolras go talk to him, tell him we need to know why he only has trust in Éponine, and with that we find out whether or not we entrust the task of talking to him to our beloved queen."

Enjolras found himself nodding at that. It sounded like a good plan.

"But then we probably need a good reason why she isn't present at their first encounter." Courfeyrac said, pushing a lock of blond hair away from his eyes.

"Probably." Enjolras said, sighing. Never before had he been expected to deal with such an obnoxious student, and he found it annoying. Why in heaven's name did he just want to talk with Éponine?

"Well." Feuilly spoke up. "Let her go with Lesgles."

At that the dark skinned boy looked up.

"He's got a talk with another student that day anyway." Feuilly said, looking at his friend. "You remember right?"

"Of course I do." Lesgles said, a bit taken aback that the brown haired boy would think he'd forget an audience with a student. "But Feuilly are you alright not coming with me?" he asked.

"Of course." Feuilly said. "It's better like this anyway."

Lesgles nodded in approval. "Alright then."

"Then it is decided." Enjolras said, standing up from his seat and taking a look at his friends. They were such a trustworthy bunch, he thought with pride. Not only had they come sooner without knowing why, but they took what he said seriously and acted upon their senses of honour to do something about the situation. Montparnasse had better watch out.

"Today, after the last bell rings, Grantaire and I are going to have a chat with this Montparnasse." He looked at Lesgles. "And you, Lesgles, take Éponine along with you. Keep an open eye, we do not know how the guy is going to react when we go talk to him without Éponine."

Lesgles nodded, realising what Enjolras was saying. It was a bit far-fetched, he found, but he admired how Enjolras seemed to think everything through. There was off course always the slightest chance the guy would take it extremely bad and would try to take it out on the girl in question. He closed his eyes. He'd keep that from happening.

"Okay, now that that's settled..." Enjolras wanted to stop the meeting.

"Wait." Grantaire stopped the leader in mid-sentence. "Didn't we have another super-important mission today?"

Enjolras looked at him questioningly while realisation dawned on the faces of the other boys.

"We were going to find out where Éponine works." Courfeyrac helped the leader who stood to his right remember.

"Oh right." Enjolras sighed. "Let's do that another time."

The faces fell.

"Why?" Grantaire asked.

"Just focus on the important things for now." Enjolras reminded him of the situation at hand. "Then we'll see when we'll try to find out where she works."

"I can try to ask her." Anne suggested at which the guys' eyes lit up. It was true that she knew Eponine had multiple jobs, but the Thénardier girl had never wanted her to know more than that she had a few jobs, so Anne had no idea what she did.

"But that's no fun!" Grantaire protested.

"Pleas Anne, try." Enjolras said, trying not to sigh in exasperation.

She nodded with a smile. "I will."

Éponine limbed. She realised she was, yet there was nothing she could do about it. It was already difficult enough to keep herself from crying out loud with every step she took. Getting her books from her locker had been hell. Her muscles protested at even the simplest of actions, and the bruises cried out in agony every time something even came close to touching them. She feared for the day that had to come.

She had almost reached her History class when she saw Lesgles walk over to her. He smiled warmly at her as he greeted her.

"Bonjour Éponine." he said.

"Bonjour Lesgles." she returned his smile, albeit a little weakly. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I have an audience with a student after school, and I hoped you'd be willing to help me."

"Me?" Éponine asked, cursing mentally. She was in enough pain already, and now even Les Amis were going to demand more attention from her!

"Yes." Lesgles replied. "You are the best partner in this particular case." he said with such joviality that it involuntarily made Éponine smile. This boy before her was very kind, unlucky, but kind. His voice invited a person to believe in a fair future, and if she hadn't been keeping up her barriers up for so long, she'd had trouble not to let a tear fall.

"Alright then." she agreed. "Where?"

"The classroom of Madame Thiery." he said, smiling even wider "Just after the last bell rings."

"Alright. I'll be there..." she wanted to add that she didn't have too much time but he beat her to it.

"Don't worry, it won't take too long."

She smiled warmly at the dark skinned man. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." he replied "But now I have to go. If not I'll be late in class...again." he smiled at his own bad fortune, for it was known he often got into some trouble along the way to his next class and was because of that often late, earning himself detention. The worst part for the lad was that it was never his fault. He just had the misfortune to appear at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Yeah, see you after school." With that Éponine turned on her heel, trying to ignore the intense pain she felt at that movement and entered the classroom.

The whole day Enjolras had been wondering who this Montparnasse was. And now that he stood in front of the classroom in which they had asked him to meet up with them he found himself fighting back the urge to glare. The image of a frightened Éponine still haunted him, and despite himself, he hated it. Never before had he felt as worked up over such a stupid thing, but he couldn't help himself. He glanced at the brown haired boy next to him, who took another sip of his at school forbidden drink and smiled weakly. How glad he was Grantaire was always willing to cope with these kinds of things. He was a free spirit after all, and didn't give all that much for etiquette or rules. But he was intelligent and was a pro at understanding situations and not afraid to say what he wanted to, no matter the consequences.

At that Enjolras sighed. It was mostly because Grantaire didn't give a shit about consequences that Enjolras had found himself in perilous situations one too many times. Luckily for both boys though it had never been there fault, and therefore they hadn't gotten into trouble thus far.

Grantaire reached for the doorknob and glanced at Enjolras who stood to his left. "Ready?" he asked.

Enjolras nodded. "Yeah, let's get it over with."

With that Grantaire opened the door to the English classroom and entered, soon followed by the raven haired leader.

There, on the desk next to the window sat a raven haired boy, looking outside, swinging his legs, seemingly bored.

Enjolras threw Grantaire a sideways glance to which Grantaire nodded.

"So, you must be Montparnasse." the brown haired boy said easily as he sauntered to the boy.

"Where's Éponine?" the guy said as he turned his head to them, seemingly bored, yet a dangerous glint was visible in his eyes.

"Now now, don't give us that look." Grantaire continued. "This is routine." he spoke easily as he replaced a desk in the middle of the room and put one chair on one side, and two on the other.

"So it is custom to treat a student as a suspect in a murder case?" Montparnasse asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So it is!" Grantaire, who didn't seem to mind the way in which Montparnasse addressed them, replied.

Enjolras walked over to stand next to the other member of Les Amis. "Come, sit." he said, motioning for the seat in front of them.

Montparnasse regarded them from afar at first, calculating his possibilities. He watched as Grantaire sat down and made it comfortable for himself, propping one leg onto the desk. It was the raven haired guy with equally dark eyes that caught his interest though. One look in those eyes told Montparnasse that this was a lad to be wary of. He stood with a sense of justice and self-confidence not seen much in one so young. The way he walked was a way of showing his superiority which didn't go unnoticed by Montparnasse. This one, he realised, was going to be trouble if he made a mess of things.

He thus decided to saunter over to the empty seat and sat down, never letting his guard down for the two boys in front of him. They were both keeping their eyes fixed upon him, analysing his every step. He glanced at the easy-going one. He didn't seem to be interested at first, as he took swigs from his drink which he noted, wasn't allowed by the school rules. But under that nonchalance, Montparnasse realised, he was the one to keep an eye on. One to be cautious of. One who would remember every little word he'd speak in the next hours.

His eyes went back to the second in the room whose dark eyes were still daring him to look him in the eye, and who hadn't sat down before him. He fought back a chuckle. This was an alfa male, he realised. Unknowingly he didn't allow one to be in a standing position when he was seated in a situation as this. A smirk crept onto his face. Two alfa males in one room, this could get interesting.

"So, what would the two gentlemen want with me?" Montparnasse asked as Enjolras finally sat down.

"I take that is our question." Enjolras said, putting his arms on the table and linking his hands. "You requested an audience."

"Yes." Montparnasse reacted "But I do remember for an audience with Mademoiselle Thénardier." A smirk pulled at his lips yet he kept a solemn face. "Why couldn't she make it?"

"Whoever said she could or could not make it?" Enjolras asked.

"Then why would you be here in her stead."

"As we said before." Enjolras replied, trying to keep the venom out of his voice "This is routine." With every moment he regarded the raven haired boy in front of him, an anger he didn't understand rose within him. This person was the reason of the distressed look on Éponine's face, yet he did not know why. She hadn't flinched the slightest when he was glaring down on her, yet the mere mentioning of the name of the boy in front of her mad her shiver involuntarily. What had happened between the two to make her react in the way she'd done? What was the connection between the two dots that were Éponine and this guy?

Montparnasse leaned back in his chair. "I haven't heard of this before though. I distinguishably remember the guy from class mentioning our right to ask of help from anyone of the group."

"That is true." Enjolras spoke. "After the first encounter with me, the leader."

Montparnasse raised an eyebrow. Of course the leader of Les Amis would be a confident young man like him. It explained a lot though. This lad in front of him was the founder of a delegation of students that were allowed to represent other students in matters of deep concern. Not only had they been able to keep a fight from going out of hand, but they had also prevented many students to be kicked out under false accusations. This guy would not let anyone fool him. Montparnasse gritted his teeth in annoyance and a slight panic, yet felt a smile tug at his lips. This was what he enjoyed more than scaring geeky students or girls. These mental battles were amusing beyond limits and the guy in front of him had already proven to be an equal match. He glanced at the brown haired lad once more. He'd nearly forgotten about the philosopher between the two, and he nearly cursed at that. While the leader had been talking to him, the other boy hadn't said anything but had kept looking at him inquiringly, and no doubt had not let a sign go passed him. He was like a tiger, waiting for a prey.

'Well' Montparnasse thought 'I'm not keen on becoming a prey when I'm clearly a predator.'

"Okay then. What do you want to know?" Montparnasse said, feigning innocence. Neither Enjolras nor Grantaire bought it though.

"Well, you wanted an audience because you've got trouble right?" he asked the raven haired boy from across him.

"Yeah." Montparnasse said, looking down. "I'm in a bit of a mess."

"Which is?" Enjolras asked.

"Well, I haven't been the best student, and I'm afraid that our English teacher, who hates me by the way, is using it against me to get me out of her classroom."

"That is a serious accusation." Enjolras noted.

"I know. That's why I wanted an audience with Éponine. She's in my English class so I took it she was somewhat aware of the situation. I mean, it cannot be that she didn't notice over the course of two years, right?"

Enjolras frowned. "How old are you?"

"Me?" Montparnasse was taken aback by the question. "I'm seventeen, eighteen next month."

Enjolras nodded, not able to say anything.

"Seventeen? Shouldn't you be in your last year then?" Grantaire blurted out.

Enjolras rolled his eyes. Grantaire didn't mind the consequences of his actions alright.

Montparnasse apparently didn't seem to like the way Grantaire had said it though, and he glared at the brown haired member of Les Amis. "I doubled, alright?"

Grantaire pulled up his shoulders. "I didn't say you were stupid or something."

Enjolras sighed, and he could nearly hear the boy from across them snap. His fingers dug deep into the wood of the desk in-between them, and he spoke through gritted teeth.

"I don't like to be addressed as such. I do not want you to even mention me having to do my year over for it is completely unrelated."

"Calm down." Enjolras commented as Grantaire wanted to say something else. "So, you have trouble with your English teacher. How bad do you think it is?"

"She's going to get the principal to kick me out." he said, voice angry.

"Do you think she'd go so far?" Grantaire asked sincerely.

Montparnasse nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay then." Enjolras said, thinking it through. "Then we'll see what we can do about your case, we will contact you when the time comes for a new audience with one of our members."

"Remember what I said." Montparnasse sneered in spite of himself "I want Éponine!"

A glint was lit in Enjolras' eyes and Montparnasse didn't know how to respond. Was it annoyance, jealousy, anger? He couldn't place his finger on it, but he knew it was dangerous. He should've played it smarter, but the last remark would make it more difficult for him now. Not only did the leader give him this look he couldn't even describe, but there was also the other guy who hadn't even been afraid to affront him in such a harsh way, who had heard.

"I mean, she's the only one who has English with me."

"We heard you loud and clear." Enjolras mentioned. "We'll treat you like all of the other students. We'll be there for you through this whole ordeal."

The last words were difficult for him to speak, but unlike the unruly figure before him, Enjolras could not afford slip ups, and he couldn't afford to show this person any sort of weakness. He was certainly up to no good, and he was going to keep Éponine out of harms way. She was a student under his protection after all.

The two Amis walked through the hallways, quickly leaving the classroom where they'd been behind them. Grantaire glanced behind them.

"It doesn't look like he's following us." he said, taking another sip of his bottle.

"What do you think?" Enjolras asked, looking straight ahead of him.

"He's trouble." Grantaire said, no hint of amusement in his voice. "I wouldn't let our Éponine alone with him for all the money or booze of the world."

Enjolras nodded. "Then we've got to find a way to deal with him."

"I may have a few vague ideas." Grantaire said, smiling.

"Good. I have a few myself as well." Enjolras said, though he immediately refused them, pushing them to the back of his mind.

"Then, alas, let us discuss them!" Grantaire said as he started to skip.

"Don't do that Grantaire." Enjolras sighed. "And please, put the bottle away."

"Alright, it's empty anyway."

Enjolras pulled up an inquisitive eyebrow. "How long has it been empty?"

Grantaire grinned. "From before we entered the classroom."

"You're shrewd my friend." Enjolras commented with a sigh, though a smile tugged at his lips.

Grantaire could only laugh.

_And that's that for chapter seven! I cannot believe this story's going so fast! I mean the writing! (Whispers: Don't say that too loud Kunaigirl, you'll get yourself a Writer's Block again! ._

_Anyway as I said in the A/N above I know now where the story's going. Well I did have a plot in mind, otherwise you don't really have a story, but anyway to say it in RPG language, there are going to be three 'bosses' to defeat! Who that are...guess! XD_

_I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and that you may forgive my long A/N's! ^^" And I hope to see you guys at chapter Eight! XD_


	8. Chapitre Huit

_Hello Everybody! I know it's been a hell of a long time, but I've been so busy with guitar lessons, singing repetitions, preparing for the 20km marathon, studying Japanese, starting up a new project, and...well uhm, what I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry?_

Disclaimer: I do not own Les Misérables.

Concrete Angel

Chapitre Huit.

Tired, and with a hell of a lot pain Eponine walked through the hallways, trying her best not to limp. She passed the English classroom, and couldn't help to look in. She noticed someone was still using the room. A sole silhouette was seen, staring out of the window as he or she sat atop of one of the desks next to the window. She didn't give it any more thought after that though, she had to meet up with the unfortunate Lesgles at another classroom anyway.

Once she rounded the last corner she saw him standing there, waving at her, a warm smile once more on his face. So this was the man that had gotten Marius into Les Amis? She'd heard it from Marius once, that he'd spoken up for him in class. When she'd asked how that was possible, seeing he was in his last year Marius had explained that he'd only been present because of a test he still had to make. Apparently the teacher hadn't noticed Marius' empty seat, and Marius had snuck in very silently to avoid trouble with the teacher. After that they'd gotten into a deep conversation, after which Lesgles asked him why he would not become part of Les Amis.

Eponine could still see Marius' smiling face at that, a sight that made her stomach fill up with butterflies.

"That was two years ago." he'd said after which a big smile made place on his handsome face, brown eyes twinkling with laughter. "Time goes by so fast."

'As if.' Eponine thought after the boy had disappeared afterwards, and after she'd gotten herself to calm down and think about what he said. From what she heard, she could trust Lesgles. He was one of the nicest of members of Les Amis after all, though she heard he had bad luck.

She shrugged it off as she walked over to him and the young boy standing next to him. The boy, also darker skinned, looked no more than thirteen years old, and seemed frightful. At this she frowned. Why was he standing so slumped, and why did he look so bad at ease? What in the world had he done to need the help of Les Amis?

"Hello Eponine." Lesgles said, smiling. "Glad you could come so quickly."

Eponine shrugged. "Of course. An agreement is an agreement after all."

The boy seemed to tense up as she spoke, which did not go unnoticed by Lesgle either.

"Let's go in shall we?" he said, opening the door to the empty classroom, and motioning for the lad to enter.

Once inside Lesgles pulled out a chair from the first desk and turned it so it faced the second desk in row. Both he and Eponine took place at this desk, while the guy sat down on the other side, fumbling with a book he kept in hand.

"So" Lesgles began. "You wanted to talk to us?"

The boy nodded nervously, glancing from Eponine to Lesgles. "Yes, I did..."

"Why is something the matter?" Lesgles asked, his kind voice soothing the youth in front of him for the slightest.

"Well, I'm not sure, but..."

"But?" Lesgles urged.

"I'm..." the lad became nervous at this. "They..."

"They?" Eponine asked, trying her best not to get innerved with the young boy in front of her. "Who are they?" she asked, trying to sound as gently as Lesgles did. Apparently she was not for the guy seemed to grow even more nervous.

"Just calm down Julien. Tell us what's bothering you. We won't tell anyone of this talk if you don't want to."

The boy looked up. "You sure?"

"Of course." Eponine said, really feeling for the nervous kid.

He seemed to relax just the tiniest bit.

"It's just that...they...they want me out of this school."

"Okay." Lesgles said. "That we cannot allow so easily. Who are they?"

"A few of my classmates...Do I...have to give names?" At this he seemed even more bad at ease than Eponine thought possible.

"You do not have to do anything you do not want to do." Lesgles said, effectively calming the boy down.

Eponine started to wonder how many times Lesgles had been asked to perform these kinds of duties, to talk to children this nervous and to come up with a solution for whatever it was that ailed them. Her respect for Les Amis grew as she noted how mature the boy was taking all this.

"That's a relief." the lad said, sitting back in his chair for the first time.

"It's just that...I'm normally not so nervous, but..."

"It's alright, we understand." Lesgles spoke.

"You can no longer cope with things?" Eponine put in, really feeling for the young lad. He was but three to four years older than her brother, and she'd remembered how he looked when he was in this state. But usually that was easy to explain, because the sole problem Gavroche could have to drive him this far, was their father. She shook it off, trying to focus on the boy in front of her who nodded to her question.

"Yes, it's become too hard."

"We understand. Then it is good you have called upon us. Do you think you've done the right thing?" Lesgles asked.

The boy seemed to think about it for a moment but then, albeit hesitantly, nodded. "Yes, I believe I did. I mean, I'm worthy of help too, right?"

"Of course you are." Eponine said, her voice having an edge of fire that did not go unnoticed by the two boys of which one was looking at her through hopeful eyes.

"But then, maybe, I'll get into trouble if I talk to you..."

"You only know when you do." Lesgles said. "But we promise you that you will not go through this alone."

The boy nodded. "Alright then."

"So, what's going on with these students of your class?" Eponine asked, bending towards the boy.

"Well, they say I need to leave the school."

"And what for?" Leslges asked.

"Because I'm...like you."

Lesgles' eyes widened for a second, until it dawned on him what the boy was going on about.

"What?!" Eponine lashed out, the boy immediately crumbling, eyes wide with fear. "They tell you to leave because you're darker than them?!"

Lesgles regarded the girl who, enraged, stood from her seat.

Eponine tried her best not to flinch because of her injuries, but it enraged her that there were still people like that. "That's not a reason you should be sent from school! You're a human being like the rest of us! As long as you don't do anything wrong you do not need to take crap like that from anyone!"

Though she looked enraged, Lesgles noted that her sudden outburst brought light to the eyes of the young lad. It was as if he was being healed through her anger at the mere subject of hate towards the boy.

"Tell me who they are, and I swear I'll..."

"Eponine." Lesgles said calmly. "I understand your feelings, but that's not how Les Amis work."

Still fuming Eponine sat down, not believing the stupidity of it all.

The guy in front of her seemed to have gotten new courage though.

"As my fellow student has clearly pointed out" Lesgles began at which Eponine pouted involuntarily "That is not a reason to expel someone. A such I'll go have a word with the teachers and the principal to point the students to this problem."

The boy wanted to interfere, but Leslges was quicker. "If that doesn't help we'll talk to your classmates one at a time."

"But then they'll know it was me!" the guy retorted.

"Not necessarily. We'll make it look like it is a general intervention of Les Amis, and I can assure you, we will find out who's to blame for this situation, and he or she will be called to justify themselves for it."

At this the young boy nodded, hoping that whatever Les Amis were going to do that it would work out well.

"One last question..." he started. "Will my name be mentioned?"

"No." Lesgles replied firmly. "We will not bring you in unnecessary danger. Not the students nor the teachers will have to know who it is that asked us for help."

Eponine saw the guy relax, and a smile made its way up to her face. Perhaps she could come to like working with Les Amis after all.

The world came crashing down in all its splendour as she reached her bike though. A small note hung on the steer of her bike. Curious Eponine quickly pulled it off.

"You'll pay for that." it read.

Confused Eponine stared at the small piece of paper in front of her. The writing resembled Montparnasse's, but she couldn't be too sure of it. Okay, he might be the only one in school who hated her, but that...her trail of thought stopped there. Yes, he would take it personally if anything happened. Perhaps he was still pissed for her shrugging him off the way she'd done in front of 'The Gang?' She shook her head. He could do it, she realised. He could be so damned proud as to take it personally. Of course she had also avoided him at school, so he must realise she really wasn't interested in him. She shivered as she thought of the time in which she'd found him attractive and that his mere presence has brought some butterflies to go haywire in her stomach. After she'd gotten to know him though, she regretted ever showing him she fancied him. He was cruel in every meaning of the word, pulling out spider legs from the poor creature, and worse. The way he treated her now like he owned her was infuriating, and she could only curse her younger self for ever showing she liked him. She could no longer remember how she did that, for if she could remember, she'd probably do it to Marius, so that he at last would understand why she was so often found in his presence.

Her thoughts were pulled back to the note in her hand. It said she would pay, but she wasn't too sure as to what exactly. She imagined it to be her declining his affections, but what if there was more of which she wasn't aware off? Perhaps she'd done something to him involuntarily? Nah, she shook her head. She'd steered clear for him way too carefully for him to notice, and even if it was her avoiding him, then he wouldn't act this way. He'd just get what he wanted in a more brutal way. Not that the note wasn't mentioning something different though. Eponine shrugged it off, she'd know when the time came. She was so used to getting beaten up that the thought of a new beating heading her way wasn't terrifying in the least. The fear and pain only came with and after the beating after all. No use losing sleep over something that had yet come to pass.

Pushing the note into her pocket she got onto her bike with protesting muscles and an enormous amount of pain, which reminded her of the long night she still had to go through. Serving people was really going to be a trial. Another sigh escaped her, and unconsciously she realised she'd see it through somehow.

"And? How did it go?" Feuilly asked as Enjolras and Grantaire walked into the classroom.

"It was...interesting." Enjolras said as he put down his bag and sat down on the couch. He sighed deeply as he thought about the strange fellow he'd just come to meet. Everything about the guy screamed caution, and that was exactly how he was going to deal with him.

"So..." Feuilly said, turning to Grantaire who threw away his empty bottle in the sole trash can in the corner of the room.

"To say it in short, he's a handful." Grantaire said stretching.

"That bad?" Feuilly asked.

The door opened once more. "Ah, Feuilly you're still here?" Lesgles spoke as he walked in.

"Yeah." Feuilly replied as he watched his friend enter. "Eponine gone?"

"Yes, I told her it was alright for her to get going."

"I see."

Lesgles turned to see Enjolras sitting on the couch. "I take the talk with this Montparnasse gave us some insight in the situation?" he asked, looking at Grantaire who sauntered over to the other couch.

"Yeah." he said before sitting down. "That it's going to be a whole lot of fun dealing with him."

"If you find dealing with a delinquent fun." Enjolras commented darkly.

"A delinquent?" Lesgles asked, sitting down next to Grantaire.

"That bad?" Feuilly asked, walking over and leaning against the sofa.

"Yeah. He's not to be taken lightly."

"Then what are we going to do with Eponine?" Lesgles asked, bad at ease with seeing the leader so annoyed with someone. It wasn't all that hard to annoy the guy, but to see him this worked up over someone who needed their help was a first. Normally he'd keep his thoughts to himself, but this time something had clearly ticked him off, and if Lesgles had a guess, he'd think it had something to do with Eponine and her reaction to the news that the man wanted to see her and no one else. He smiled to himself. So the marble student wasn't totally made of stone was he?

"I don't know yet." Enjolras said, looking up at the three students still present. "Perhaps it's best if we talk this over with the whole team."

"Including Eponine?" Feuilly asked.

"I don't know." Enjolras admitted. "Perhaps it's best she knows of this as soon as possible."

"I don't know." Lesgles commented. "Maybe we should give it some more thought before jumping to conclusions. If her reaction is anything to go by, she isn't very keen on seeing this fellow."

"I agree with that." Feuilly said, wiping his hair out of his eyes. "Maybe it's an idea to send Grantaire. I mean, he's used to this stuff right?"

"I'm right here you know." Grantaire said "And even I'm not sure about the right way to go about this. There's something going on between the two, but I have no idea what, and we might only be able to find out the best way to deal with this based on the relation they have."

"If they have any." Enjolras grumbled.

"Are you kidding?" Grantaire said, eyes focussed on Enjolras. "Have you seen the size of the smirk on his face? Add to that the way she reacted...something sure did happen."

"Then what do you think that is?" Enjolras asked, taken aback from the tone of his voice. If he hadn't known better it would sound like he was jealous if something did happen in the past. He just couldn't fight off the look she'd given him, all power and control, and the fearful look she wore when they'd mentioned Montparnasse. He ran a hand through his short dark hair.

Grantaire didn't miss out on the look of anger and then of confusion that went over Enjolras' face, and he found it amusing to watch him struggle with whatever it was that was annoying him so. "I do not know. Much can happen between two people."

"Are you speaking of an earlier relationship?" Feuilly asked.

"I don't think so." Lesgles spoke up, getting the attention of the other three guys. "It doesn't look that way."

"Then how does it look when that's the case?" Feuilly asked, slightly annoyed at the vagueness of it all.

"Different." was all Lesgles could say. He himself couldn't explain why he was certain that Eponine and Montparnasse had never been a couple.

This reply let Feuilly sigh in annoyance. "Whatever. What are we going to do about this then? If Eponine doesn't want to see him there's no way he'll want to talk."

"Case closed I'd say." Grantaire mumbled.

"No." Enjolras' voice rang. "No, it won't be over. Students will hear how Les Amis weren't willing to help a student, he'll sully our name, and we'll lose all we've fought so hard for to attain."

The whole room fell silent.

"Didn't he say something about Eponine being the only one in his class, and as thus the only one capable of noticing how his teacher treats him?" Grantaire asked, though his eyes showed he'd been going for this the whole time.

Enjolras looked up. "Yes, he did."

"Well then, isn't there someone else in Les Amis who's in her class?" he replied in a teasing tone.

"Grantaire, please stop the games and tell us." Feuilly said.

Grantaire's smirk grew wider. "There's a certain poet in our group who shares this class with her."

"Prouvaire." Enjolras whispered, eyes shining with this new information. "We'll talk this through with him. Get some extra Intel on this Montparnasse and decide with the whole group how we're going to handle this. We'll find a way in the same way we've always found an answer to our problems. With democracy."

A confident smile appeared onto the other boys' faces and they nodded, a feeling of importance surging through their veins. If there was someone who could keep Eponine safe, and all the while dealing with a difficult student, it would be Les Amis de l'ABC.

_Though I apologised in the beginning I must make clear that I am not certain of when I'll be updating. I'm into so much and I'm so fickle that I do not even know myself what the next day will bring. ^^" Either way I know where this fic is going and it's sure not letting go of me. By the way I've added a little something new to my profile. Now it is mentioned, after my crappy in one minute created poem where I'm hanging out on this site. If you check that you might know whether or not I'll be updating regularly or not. At this moment I'm really back into the Ranger's Apprentice fandom (which should be noted) so updates for this story may come slower. But as I said before I know where this story is going! XD I hope you can forgive me for this, and I hope I can welcome you at the next chapter! Stay tuned!_

_Oh and thanks for all the lovely reviews. There was one in particular that made me remember this chapter today. Unfortunately it was a guest so I can not PM him/her. But thank you for the many Please's! ^^" I'm sorry you had to go out of your way to write so many of them. (I really hope you used copy paste!) But really I appreciate it and from that day on I couldn't help but feel guilty about not updating while I have a few chapters left on my PC. ^^"_


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